What I Do
by He'sGotHeart
Summary: Momma always said: "You gotta save yourself in order to save others." Easier said than done in a world where it's not just the living dead you need to watch out for. But she's a wild card baby, through and through. Starts in Season 1, Daryl/OC slow burn.
1. Girl of the Summer

"Do you hear that?" Dale called up to me, scanning the quarry cliffs with his binoculars.

"Think it's them?" I asked, peeking through the scope on my rifle and spying a whole lot of nothing. The hot Georgia sun beat down as I stood perched on the roof of the old Winnebago. In the distance a blaring car alarm grew steadily louder. Shane suddenly appeared next to Dale, his black hair slicked down with sweat.

"Talk to me, guys! What can you see?" Shane asked.

"Can't tell yet." Dale mumbled, still looking through his binoculars. The air grew tense, unease twisted my belly. The crowd around the RV grew. I squinted into the scope, hoping to see a little clearer in the distance. A trail of dust kicked up the top of the quarry hill.

"Is it them? Are they back?" It was Amy talking this time.

"Well I'll be damned!" Dale exclaimed.

"What is it?" Amy responded.

"Looks like a stolen car!" I hollered. Whoever was driving seemed to be having a hell of a time.

Within seconds a red Challenger with the alarm wailing came screaming into the quarry basin, coming to a screeching stop in the middle of camp, dirt flying out in all directions. Glenn stepped out, waving as Amy rushed to him. I slung my rifle over my shoulder as I rushed to climbed down the ladder on the back of the RV and join the rest of the crowd. The car alarm continued to holler, setting my nerves on edge. Fucking thing was going to attract every corpse within 10 miles. My momma was waiting for me at the back of the camper, her long grey hair tied up in a bun, face tight with concern.

"He's alone." She said, her raised voice close as she tried to talk over the alarm.

"I'm sure it's fine, Momma" I said, hands coming up to plug my ears as I walked towards the crowd. Jim was bent over the open hood, triumphant as his hands found the car's battery and disconnected it. The silence was sudden and welcome.

Amy stood next to Glenn, shouting at him about Andrea. "Where is she? Is she okay? Why isn't she with you?"

"She's ok! Everyone is!" Glenn finally answered back, "well, Merle not so much."

Shane jumped in front of Glenn "Are you crazy, driving this bastard up here? Are you trying to draw every walker for miles?"

"I think we're ok." Dale said, coming to stand next to Glenn and Shane. Ever the peacekeeper that man. As the three of them got into it, I turned and scanned the quarry, Momma next to me with her eyes squinted in the sunlight as she looked around as well.

"Sorry," Glenn shrugged, finding me in the crowd. "Got a cool car." I rolled my eyes at him. Idiot didn't look sorry at all. Though, I don't think I would have been either.

"Looks like the rest of them made it too" Momma said, placing her hand on my shoulder and pointing to the dust cloud and the rumbling box truck coming down Glenn's trail. I nod, watching the truck get closer until finally it pulled up next to the Challenger. The back door opened and everyone stepped out. Amy came running for Andrea. Tears fell all around as worried family members reunited.

"I knew they'd be fine." I say, standing to the side with Momma as everyone hugged each other.

"God forbid you don't know something." Momma quipped, looking at me sideways. "I imagine you've been scoutin' from the top of that camper this whole time because everything was just fine and dandy."

"Yup," I let the P pop and hang in the air. "Never worried for a minute." I looked at her and grinned. Suddenly I noticed Lori and Carl running for a strange man that came staggering out of the truck bed.

"Dad! DAD!" Carl yelled as he ran into the man's arms.

My mouth hung open, eyebrows shot up to my hairline.

"Bet you didn't know that was gonna happen." Momma said, smiling with disbelief at the happy scene.

I looked at her, eyebrows still raised.

* * *

Later that night the entire group sat around the campfire. Momma and I were stationed next to Carol and Sophia. Momma had made fast friends with Carol. I think she reminded her of her sister, Lisa. Carol was sweet and kind, though timid too. She had a knuckle dragger of a husband that spent his time passed out in his tent when he wasn't storming around camp. Momma confessed to me one night she figured he puts his hands on Carol in an "ungodly way". It was good for Carol and Momma to have found each other in this world. Momma would fix that timid nature of hers real quick, Ed or no Ed.

The stranger, Rick, was telling the group how he had escaped the hospital in Atlanta.

"Mom said you died." I heard Carl mumble.

"She had every reason to believe it. Don't you ever doubt that." Rick responded, hugging his son closer. By the warmth of the fire I could feel my eyelids getting heavier as the seconds passed. As Rick, Shane, and Dale continued talking about Rick's escape and catching him up on what happened since the hospital fell, I struggled to blink away my fatigue.

"Why don't you go to bed Jenny?" Momma asked me. I turned and looked at her, a weary smile gracing my face.

"I'm not a kid Momma," I said. A huge yawn split my face at that moment.

"Uh huh." Momma said. I wrinkled my nose in response before standing up.

"You coming too?" I asked.

"You go, I'll sit with Carol and Sophia a bit longer." I nodded and walked towards our tent, my rifle still slung across my back. I had been on watch since dawn that day with my .22. The .22 wasn't anything impressive, more like a supped up BB gun, but it could take out squirrels and put down a corpse which was all that mattered in this new world. Plus the high-powered scope I had looted from a Bass Pro let me play sniper from the RV top.

I reached our tent and set the gun on the floor just inside the door flap before sitting down to take off my boots. I took a moment to unbraid my long dark blond hair. I never could sleep with it tied up. Momma and mine's tent was situated near Carol and Ed's in a half moon with the others a little away from the camp fire. As I snuggled into my sleeping bag I could hear the group still chatting quietly.

"Have you given any thought to Daryl Dixon?" I heard Dale say.

"I'll tell him. I dropped the key. It's on me." T-Dog responded.

What the hell happened with Merle? I had missed Rick's explanation after he arrived at camp. Merle was a giant rednecked pain in the ass for sure. Had to be a meth head or something. But…still…. In the four weeks Momma and I had been with the group I had gotten to know everyone. Oh well, nothing to do about it right now.

My eyes started to drift shut. I was hot and sweaty. The Georgia heat suddenly felt smothering. Should have jumped in the quarry pond before I slept. I reached down and unzipped my bag to hang my legs out. Thunder rattled in the distance. Maybe the rain would soften the humidity tomorrow.

* * *

Momma was still sound asleep next to me when I woke up in the morning. I crept over her to grab some breakfast down by the RV. As I sat in front of the tent putting my boots back on I noticed Glenn bellyaching to Jim as they stripped down the Challenger. I snatched a granola bar on my way by the RV and stopped once I reached Glenn.

"Look at 'em. Vultures." He muttered to me, "Yeah, go on, strip it clean!" He shouted to Dale and Jim.

"Generators need every drop of fuel they can get. Got no power without it. Sorry, Glenn." Dale responded, continuing to siphon fuel from the tank.

"Sorry buddy," I clapped him on the back. "It was nice while it lasted."

"Maybe we'll get to steal one another day," Rick said, appearing from behind us.

"A better one!" I said, grinning at Glenn. I turned to Rick and stuck my hand out.

"Jenny Lingle, didn't get a chance to introduce myself properly yesterday, nice to meet you." I greeted.

"Rick Grimes, nice to meet you too." He nodded and shook my hand. "'Scuse me, gonna go find my wife." He tuned and walked away. I faced Glenn and the car again.

"He seems nice. What's his deal again?" I asked Glenn.

"Sheriff or something. Apparently he was left for dead at the hospital in Atlanta. Woke up from a freaking coma or something crazy like that. Can you imagine?"

"Yikes," I said, crossing my arms and looking back at the sheriff. "It's bad enough trying to convince myself this shits all real after living it from the beginning."

"I know, right?" Glenn responded. "They want to go back to Atlanta for Merle." He lowered his voice. "What do you think would happened if we just—" Glenn was cut off by a loud screaming coming from across camp. We looked at each other and sprinted towards the sound.

Sophia and the other kids came running into camp like bats outta hell. Sophia, with tears streaming down her face, lunged for Carol. Momma appeared jogging next to me, having just woken up and started her morning routine. The kids all huddled around Momma, Carol, and Lori while Glenn and I joined the others. There was a rotten putrid corpse leaning over a downed buck, tearing at its shoulder.

Rick, Shane, Glenn, the others and myself picked up what we could and started beating on it. It turned towards us, stumbling and fumbling to get up, hands reaching out. Out of nowhere, Dale appeared with his axe. Heaving it above his head and swinging it down on the rotten flesh of its neck, cleaving its head from its body.

Sweating and panting Dale said, "It's the first one we've had up here. They never come this far up the mountain."

Jim was the first to respond, "Well, they're running out of food in the city, that's what."

I shifted uneasily, looking back at Momma, Lori, and Carol with the kids. This wasn't good, that's for sure. A snap and a shuffle had us all swiveling our heads to the left as Daryl Dixon pulled himself out of the brush.

"Oh, Jesus." Dale said.

"Son of a bitch. That's my deer! Look at it. All gnawed on by this… filthy, disease-bearing, motherless poxy bastard!" Daryl raged, kicking the corpse and prodding at the deer.

"Calm down, son. You're not helping." Dale told him.

"What do you know about it, old man? Why don't you take that stupid hat and go back to 'On Golden Pond'? I've been tracking this deer for miles. Gonna drag it back to camp, cook us up some venison. What do you think? Do you think we can cut around this chewed up part right here?" Daryl tilted his head as he contemplated the deer and the corpse. Oh god, the thought of eating that meat now made me squirm. My face screwed up at the idea.

"I wouldn't risk it." Shane said, a slightly nauseous look crossing his features as well.

Daryl started mentioning something about squirrel as I made my way back towards Momma and the others.

"Everything OK?" Momma asked. I nodded, looking at Lori and Carol.

"Great, Daryl's back…" I looked over my shoulder at the scene. "I'm thinking it might be best for us all to go work on the wash or something…while they break it to Daryl about Merle."

"Amen to that." Momma said. "Come on kids, Carl, I can smell ya from here. Let's all go take a dip." Lori chuckled with her. Carol wrapped her arm around Sophia, leading her along with the rest. I heaved a sigh and headed towards the RV. My watch was slated to start closer to lunchtime, but since everyone was tending to either the kids or the Dixons at the moment, I figured I might as well make my way to the RV and resume post. Besides I hated doing the washing. I sat my butt in the sun warmed lawn chair and peered out through my scope, scanning the horizon.

Moments like this I missed music most of all. Honestly it wouldn't be so bad, sitting up here with some sweet tea, or God, a beer even, enjoying the sunshine, listening to some bad 90s mix on the radio, sipping that beer…scratch that. Maybe I missed cold beer most of all.

The slam of the camper door rang out. I stood up and looked down on the scene. Rick stood there shaking his head at something. Shane stood behind him. It was difficult to hear everything from my perch. A scuffle, commotion erupted, shouting, Shane had Daryl in a headlock. Fucking men. One by one nearly the entire camp started congregating under the RV awning and around Rick. Momma appeared, joining up with Andrea and Amy under the awning after flashing me a wave.

"So that's it, huh? You're just gonna walk off? Just to hell with everybody else?" Shane called out.

"I'm not saying to hell with anybody… Not you Shane…" Rick replied, turning to face Shane.

"Lori least of all. Tell her that." Shane called back. I looked around, noticed Glenn and T-Dog standing awkwardly to the side. What was going on? I looked for Momma but the RV awning below me blocked my view of her.

"She knows." Rick stated.

"Well, look, I… I don't, okay, Rick? So could you just… Could you throw me a bone here, man? Could you just tell me why? Why would you risk your life for a douche bag like Merle Dixon?" Oh shit. They were going back for Merle?

To the side Daryl exploded, "Hey, choose your words more carefully!"

"No, I did. Douche bag's what I meant. Merle Dixon…The guy wouldn't give you a glass of water if you were dying of thirst." Shane loudly explained to Rick. Rick brought himself closer to Shane and said something I couldn't hear. Lori's voice called back from inside the RV, her words muffled by the vehicle I was on top of.

"Oh, come on!" I heard Glenn groan.

"You know the way. You've been there before… In and out, no problem. You said so yourself. It's not fair of me to ask… I know that, but I'd feel a lot better with you along. I know she would too." Rick called to Glenn from over by Shane. Glenn caught my eye watching them from on top of the camper. "I'm not going without a spotter." He pointed his finger at me. "Jenny's coming too!" Now everyone turned to eye me on top of the RV.

"Uh….I'm sorry?" I tilted my head and look around. "I don't remember volunteering for anything."

"She's a great shot and can spot us from the roof with her scope." Glenn continued. He looked at me imploringly. I hurried to climb down the ladder and join the group. With my rifle slung over my back I moved into the crowd. Glenn and I were friends and all, but this felt like he was overstepping his bounds.

"Again, not sure I'm really feeling a field trip to the big city right now." I answered looking back and forth between Rick, Glenn, and Daryl.

"Please?" Glenn whispered. "I really don't feel like dying." I groaned and rolled my eyes, looking to Momma under the awning, imploring her to bail me out of this somehow. I don't want to leave her here, especially not for stupid asshole Merle Dixon. She raised her eyebrows and mouthed "GO" at me. Traitor. Fuck.

"Fine." I ground out.

"Thank you. I appreciate it." Rick said.

"That's just great. Now you're gonna risk four people, huh?" Shane threw his hands up.

"Five." T-Dog chimed in. Daryl huffed. While everyone continued to bicker I rounded on Glenn.

"What the fuck, dude?"

"Sorry, I just feel like we need more guns on this gig." He avoided looking at me, choosing instead to watch the deputies go back and forth. "Also, I really don't want to go alone. Or die. Come on, you're my friend, right?"

"You are literally the worst you know that?" Glenn just smiled broadly. Rick walked over our way, considering the two of us for a moment.

"Thank you, both. We'll take the box truck, let's pack up what we need and be ready to move out as soon as possible." I nodded.

"I'll run and grab my stuff." I gave Glenn one last sour look before heading to pack up. Momma met me at the tent.

"You'll be fine," she said.

"I'd be a lot finer here with you watching over the camp." I said. I kneeled in the tent and grabbed my handy "Bucket O' Bullets" (1000 rounds of fun!) for the .22, my preloaded magazines, and my water canteen, and shoved them all in my daypack. I crammed my beat up old Braves cap on my head.

"We can handle it," Momma stated, "Shane will be here." I turned and regarded her carefully.

"I don't like this Momma." I stood up and put my pack on my shoulder.

"I know, but I think it's more important we keep the group together. Merle may be a right bastard but it's not the time to be saying who gets left behind. All God's creatures and all that." There she goes, believing in humanity.

"Language Momma!" I chastised, a small smile gracing both our faces. "You just want alone time with Dale, I know what this is about." She thought I hadn't noticed her finding quiet moments with him, making breakfast, sitting by the fire. You see a lot when you're on watch.

We turned and headed towards the truck, the full gravity of the situation starting to bear down on us. Momma grabbed my shoulder and pulled me into a hug. "Be safe. Stay up off the ground when you can. You're smart, you can do this." She grabbed my face with both hands and kissed my forehead, pushing my hat brim up. "I love you baby girl." She pulled the brim back down and pinched my cheek.

I looked at her, the love shining out of her crinkled blue eyes. "Love you too, Momma. I'll be back as quick as I can." She nodded. I met up with Glenn and climbed into the back of the truck.

"And don't let them boys get into trouble!" She hollered. Rick smiled as he too jumped into the back of the truck. Daryl was up by the cab with T-Dog, twitching impatiently.

"Let's get this fucking show on the road!" Daryl cried.

"Head out T." Rick said. We all went quiet as the truck began to rumble along back into Atlanta.

* * *

A/N: First chapter of what is planned to be very very many. This is a slow burn Daryl/OC. It will start out initially following the script, but once the group starts to branch out on their own a bit more there will be plenty of original scenes to enjoy. So far I have about 7 chapters written. I'm going to update once a week, sometimes more hopefully. Constructive criticism is always welcome! I do struggle with tenses a bit so if you notice something please feel free to politely point it out so I can go back and fix it. I'm definitely open to having a beta reader if anyone is interested! Hope you enjoyed the first chapter! XO He'sGotHeart


	2. Hang a While

I owned a farm. Back in North Carolina. Back before everything went down. It wasn't huge. I wasn't driving my International Harvester down rural route 3 holding up traffic chewing straw. It was about 4 acres in a mostly suburban area outside Charlotte. I worked at the University while I finished my PhD researching sustainable agriculture (Nitrogen Levels in Various Mammalian Organic Composted Manures – thrilling) and during the summer I tended my small herd of sheep, goats, and pigs, grew leafy greens, and made about $500 a week at the local farmers market selling organic kale to hipster moms for their juice cleanse. I loved every minute of it.

Sitting here on this hot as balls roof in who knows fuck Atlanta watching corpses through my scope while I try to cover Glenn through the ally sure made me miss those dusty days bent over picking rocks out of rows of dirt and shoveling pig shit into the fertilizer heap. Funny what you end up missing when everything ends.

Merle was gone when we got to the first checkpoint. Nothing but a hack saw, a pair of handcuffs, and his hand left behind. Daryl rampaged around the roof; it took Rick nearly ten minutes to help him calm down. Glenn and I stood awkwardly in the back not sure what to do or say and feeling very out of our league. Merle was an asshole but he was Daryl's brother after all. Momma wouldn't wish this upon anyone, and I wouldn't either.

From the rooftop of the department store we all followed Daryl as he tracked the blood through the building. We came across a grisly scene in a kitchen where Merle had clearly cauterized his wound with Sterno cans. Real Appalachian MacGyver that one. Finally we all agreed that the search wouldn't continue until we got the bag of guns Rick had left behind initially. And that is how I found myself cooking in the Georgia sunshine on the roof of a Payless trying to make sure Glenn didn't become chow.

Through my scope Glenn darted quickly into the street and reached the bag. "Run Forrest run". I said under my breath. The corpses he passed started to twitch and roll.

"Come on." I groan.

I squinted, trying to see further through the scope. Glenn grabbed the bag and ran but after about 10 steps turned and doubled back, dipping to grab the sheriff's hat.

"Come ON dude!" I couldn't help but exclaim loudly, shaking my head.

Glenn ducked into the ally and I ran to the other side of the roof to make sure he and Daryl met okay. I was met with the sight of two huge men beating on Glenn and Daryl.

"Oh FUCK!" I yell, immediately crouching down swinging the .22 up to my shoulder. The .22 wouldn't kill them but it would hurt like a bitch.

Pop. The .22 goes off. "Shit!" I hear from the melee. Pop. The rifle goes again. Pop. Pop. Pop. "Fuck!" I see them holding their asses through the scope. I've got five shots left before the little clip runs out. Pop. One in the biggest guy's shoulder. They're still hitting on Glenn. Pop. Pop. "Punta!" They had finally looked up and noticed me. Two shots left. They started to drag Glenn backwards to a waiting car. Pop. I caught the one on the left in the calf just as a crossbow bolt nails into his butt cheek. Hurriedly I tossed myself handover foot down the ladder and jet towards Daryl.

"Come back here you sumbitches!" Daryl roared at the retreating vehicle.

"You ok?" I panted, giving Daryl a once over. He grunted what I could only assume was an affirmation, but in all seriousness he looked like hell. T-Dog and Rick came busting into the ally taking stock of the situation. It was then I noticed the scrawny kid they left behind. I whipped my rifle up into position. "He with them?" I asked Daryl. Daryl brushed by me roughly, headed straight for the kid.

"I'm gonna kick your nuts up in your throat!" He shouted at the kid, grabbing him harshly and tossing him around. I stood by, keeping my rifle raised to eye level. I should've stopped him. Shouldn't have let him beat this kid. But they had Glenn. I stayed rooted to the spot, rifle raised, not sure who I'm waiting to shoot.

"Chill out!" T-Dog called from behind me.

"They took Glenn." Daryl cried. "That little bastard and his little bastard homie friends." He turned back to the kid. "I'm gonna stomp your ass!"

"What do we do? We're cut off!" T-Dog called out again, still behind me.

"We get back inside. Regroup." Rick said to my right.

"My pack with my ammo is back on the roof." I chimed in.

"T-Dog and I will take the kid, Daryl, you stand watch while Jenny gets her pack. The gate will keep walkers out. You two meet us back inside immediately." Someone, T-Dog I assumed, gathered up the bag of guns behind me. Rick came forward and grabbed the kid, quickly binding up his hands. Rick and T-Dog looked up and down the ally before lurching our hostage back towards the office building Merle was abandoned at.

I looked at Daryl briefly. "Best get a move on." He said to me.

I nod and scrambled up the ladder as quickly at I could. My rifle thumped against my back as I pulled myself up the four floors. On the roof, I sprinted to the far edge, scooped up my pack, and then made for the ladder once more. How far have they taken Glenn by now? How much time are we wasting dealing with this kid they're clearly willing to ditch at the first sign of trouble?

Daryl was waiting with his back to me down at the bottom. Sweat dripped down both our faces, the heat was oppressive. I bet Momma and the rest of the families were enjoying a dip in the quarry pond. I pulled even with Daryl and we both lifted our weapons while we scanned the area and moved to meet up with Rick and T-Dog.

"You really think Merle is still alive?" I asked Daryl as he turned to check the far end of the ally.

"Toughest bastard I know." Daryl replied. "Probably already regrew his hand back." I grimaced as the image of the severed hand on the roof floated in my mind and reached for the heavy utility door. Daryl covered us as I shouldered my rifle and used two hands to yank the door back open with a not so lady like grunt.

"Ladies first!" I smiled, gesturing for Daryl to move into the building with my head. He rolled his eyes and flipped me the bird but walked forward. I eased the door shut behind us, hoping to keep the noise to a minimum.

We found Rick and T-Dog standing in front of the boy. He sat in a chair with his hands tied behind his back and looked wary as Daryl and I entered the room.

Rick moved his head to regard us then turned back. "Those men you were with, we need to know where they went."

"Jesus," T-Dog glanced at Daryl, "what the hell happened back there?"

"This little turd and his douchebag friends fucking jumped us." Daryl replied, wiping at his split lip.

"There were three by the time I saw it." I supplied. Crossing my arms over my chest as I took in the scene. "Got Daryl down and then Glenn when he rounded the corner with the guns."

"He's the one that jumped me!" The kid cried. "Started shouting all insane about his missing brother like it's my damn fault!"

"They took Glenn. Could have taken Merle too." Daryl responded.

The kid started chuckling. Shit, this wasn't going to be good.

"Merle? What kind of hick name is Merle?" he started. "I wouldn't name my dog Merle!"

Daryl rounded on him, swinging his foot out swiftly. Rick grabbed his arm and pulled him back just before his leg could make contact with the poor kids face.

"Damn it Daryl, back off." Rick said, exasperated. Daryl spun away and came to stand in front of me.

"Gimme your pack," he grumbled.

"What?" I stared at him dumbly. He looked me in the eye and grabbed my shoulder spinning me around and digging in my pack. He pulled out something wrapped in fabric and held it up to T-Dog, raising his eyebrows.

"Want to see what happened to the last guy that pissed me off?" Daryl threatened. He tossed the fabric wrapped lump the kid's way. It hit his thighs with a thud and spilled open, revealing the cold white bloody leftover of Merle's hand. What. The. Fuck. Had that been with me since this morning?

"When the fuck did that get in my bag?!" I looked at T-Dog who smiled sheepishly. Daryl continued to move in a predatory fashion towards the kid, tilting his head and looking at his shoes.

"Think we'll start with the feet this time!" Daryl crowed. Rick put a hand on Daryl's shoulder and pulled him back a step.

"The men you were with took our friend. All we want to do is talk to them, see if we can work something out." Rick directed at the kid. The kid looked at the four of us carefully before swallowing a retch. I shifted uncomfortably; I really hoped we're not about to let Daryl have at this poor boy.

"We have a hideout."

"Great," Rick smiled encouragingly. "Where is it?" The kid looked around at us again.

"Man, they're gonna beat my ass." He heaved a sigh. "I'll take you there, it's about 5 blocks south of here."

"Has it been cleared of corpses?" I inquired. I'm not looking to be a snack for something on a five-block hike.

"Clear enough." He resigned. "The ally connects to a service driveway that routes around the trouble spots." Daryl nodded. I looked from Rick and Daryl to T-Dog.

"Sooo…we just go knock on the door or….what? Exactly?" I questioned them.

"We have the guns." Rick contemplated. "I think we load up and go knock on their door. See if they'll want this one back." He motioned to our captive.

"And if it's filled with 50 gangbangers with automatic weapons?" I asked hesitantly.

"They wanted the guns." Rick replied. "They beat up Glenn and Daryl with pipes. I'm not sure they have a lot of weapons." Rick walked over to the bag of weapons. "We can strap up, hopefully they won't want to make a big fuss about all of this." Rick started to dig around in the bag of guns. He pulled out what looked like police issued glocks. An assault rifle made an appearance as well. "How good of a shot are you?" Rick asked me, eyeing my rifle over my shoulder and holding out the glock.

"Decent enough with the rifle." I said, ignoring the pistol. I could shoot a pistol just fine, but preferred the long gun. T-Dog and Daryl both reached out and took the handguns and an extra clip. Rick pushed the assault rifle in my direction.

"I want you on point to cover us. There should be a wall or a roof we can stick you up on. Your scope should work on this too."

I grabbed the heavy black rifle. It was a tactical gun, kitted out with a flash suppresser and extended magazine. Right, this would be fine. Can't be much worse than firing Daddy's giant old muzzleloader. Right? It made my .22 looks like a kid's toy. I took a minute to detach the scope from my .22 and slide it onto the more daunting rifle.

Rick flashed another handgun in Daryl's direction.

"Nah I'm good for now man." Daryl said, gesturing to his cross bow. Rick nodded and handed it to T-Dog, then moved towards the kid, lifting him up out of the chair with the gun bag slung over his shoulder.

"Jenny, you'll take the rest with you on the roof before we get to the hideout. Let's get this show on the road." He pushed the kid ahead of him and out the maintenance door.

* * *

The walk to the hideout was just as the kid said it would be. About 50 yards from the entrance we found a fire escape I could climb up and watch the door at the back of the old factory we were led to. I sat perched on the old rusted iron landing with the bag of guns behind me against the wall. I looked out through the scope and watched the group approach the door. The weight of the assault rifle was heavy in my hands. They didn't think I was actually going to kill anybody right? Rick was pushing the kid out in front of him with Daryl and T-Dog bringing up the rear.

They were about 10 feet from the entrance when a large Hispanic man in a plaid t-shirt came out the door. He stood there with his arms crossed; there were bloodstained holes across his pants. I could only assume from my handy .22. I could see them exchanging words but was too far to hear anything. About 5 minutes pass before a second guy with a noticeable limp came storming out of the building. Lightning quick his gun was raised and pointed in Daryl's face. A large bloody hole sat at his back pocket. My heartbeat quickened. My finger rested against the side of the trigger guard. My palms perspired.

The new guy moved around agitated. Rick raised his hands and made a placating motion before stepping in front of the kid while keeping his eye on the gun in Daryl's face. I'm uncomfortable. The metal of the fire escape pressed into my knees though my jeans. The muzzle of the huge rifle is rested on the rusted railing. Through the scope I saw Rick suddenly point my way. I raised my hand, waving back to make sure they all saw me.

More talking. What the hell is happening down there? I noticed Rick, Daryl, and T-Dog look up. Following their line of sight I pulled back from the scope and saw two other guys holding Glenn on the factory roof, duct tape across his mouth.

Shit.

I shifted the gun and looked back down at everyone on the ground. The gang members stormed back inside and slammed the door behind them. I lifted my head and looked back at the roof. Glenn and his chaperones were gone as well.

Not good.

I hauled the heavy bag of guns up on my shoulder. I reckoned it's close to 70 lbs. It's a struggle to get the strap untwisted so it doesn't dig into my collarbones. I swung the assault rifle across my front and tried to get organized with my .22 across my back and my pack dangling from my hand. Crap this is a lot of gear.

Slowly and carefully I climbed down the steps of the fire escape. Rick and the others were there at the bottom. Rick and T-Dog stood by the kid, making sure he didn't make a break for it back to the factory. Daryl reached up to help take the munitions bag so I could jump the last 3 feet down.

I struggled for a solid 30 seconds getting the various straps of the bag, my pack, and the two rifles organized before I can pass them to him.

"Mother fucking shit bag." I grumbled under my breath.

"Don't think your Momma would like that language." Daryl surmised, squinting up at me with his hands raised. My face twisted sourly as I finally untangled everything and got the gear down to him.

"The fuck you know about my Momma, Dixon." I'm hot. I'm sunburned. I'm ready to be back at camp.

Daryl steadied me as I jumped down after the bags. Together we picked everything up once again and followed Rick and T-Dog into a new building to a small office.

Rick unzipped the bag and began sorting through everything.

"Uhhhh…not to make you guys repeat a ten minute pissing match, but what's the plan?" I asked, looking between all the men. The kid had been forced to sit down in a corner by himself.

"Half the guns and Miguel for Glenn." Rick replied, preoccupied with taking inventory.

"Them guns are worth more than gold. Gold won't protect your family or put food on the table. You're gonna give that up for that kid?" Daryl shouted with hostility.

"Hey jerk, Glenn's my friend!" I shouted back, getting equally wound up. "We don't leave our group behind." Daryl glared harshly at me.

"Tell that to Merle." He spat. He's got me there.

T-Dog chimed in "If I knew we'd get Glenn back, I might agree. But you think that vato across the way is just gonna hand him over?"

"You calling G a liar?" Miguel (apparently) called out from his corner.

Daryl stormed over and pointed a finger in Miguel's face. "Are you a part of this? You want to hold onto your fucking teeth?" Quick as a whip he swung his arm and caught Miguel across the face.

"Jesus Christ, Daryl!" I called. "He's tied up!" Daryl whipped his head around and threw me quick glance.

T-Dog made a pointed look at Rick. "Do you trust him Rick?"

"The real question around here," Daryl started, " is what you willing to bet on it? Could be more than them guns. Could be your life. Glenn worth that to you? Hmm?" Daryl looked between Rick and me.

"What life I have I owe to him." Rick pacified. "I was nobody to Glenn, just some idiot stuck in a tank. He could have walked away, but he didn't. Neither will I."

"The only reason I even came to help look for _your_ fuck ass of a brother Daryl Dixon," I added "is because Glenn pressured me to. While you're all back at camp picking your butts, Glenn is the only person nice enough to actually work with. Last time I checked, the apocalypse doesn't mean you get to give up all decency."

"You assume I was decent before this shit." Daryl called back. Whelp, he's got me there. Daryl redirected to Rick, "So you're gonna hand the guns over?"

"I didn't say that. There's nothing keeping you all here. You should get out, head back to camp." Rick stated.

I piped up again. "Like I said, Glenn is an actual friend, and unlike any of you, I'm here to see this through."

"What would we possibly tell your family or Jenny's Momma if we go back without you two?" T-Dog asked.

T-Dog looked at Rick and I, and then stared hard at Daryl. Daryl shifted under the scrutiny.

"Fucking shit. You people and your moral fucking compass." Daryl spat and looked around at everyone. "Fine. Let's do this."

We took a moment to gather everything up. The assault rifle and my .22 were across my back. My pack with my ammo and canteen lay under the rifles. I feel like a damn pack mule. T-Dog took control of leading Miguel. Rick carried the gun bag and Daryl brought up the rear.

A moment later we were huddled back outside the run down factory, the sun starting to sink low in the afternoon. My t-shirt was sweaty under my pack, even my underwear was damp. I was so ready to be back at camp in clean clothes.

I moved the assault rifle to hang in my front for easy access. A moment later the ringleader came out the front door.

"I see my guns but they're not all in the bag." G? Is that what Miguel had called him?

"That's because they're not yours. I thought I mentioned that." Rick retorted.

The one Daryl shot limped out too. "Let's just shoot these fools right now, esé. All right? Unload on their asses, esé." He had his handgun locked and loaded, gripped loosely in his left hand. It would be really super great if we could get out of this without any shooting happening.

"I don't think you fully appreciate the gravity of the situation." G continued.

"I understand just fine." Rick stated, leaving no room for discussion.

Rick cut Miguel free and gave him a shove towards G. "You have your man, I would like mine, please."

G took a slow calculated step forward. "I'm gonna chop up your boy. I'm gonna feed him to my dogs. They're the evilest, nastiest man-eating bitches you ever saw. I picked them up from Satan at a yard sale. I told you how it has to be. Are you woefully deaf?"

"Oh I'm not deaf." Rick responded. "You said come locked and loaded." My hands moved automatically to slowly lift up the rifle. I want to step back; I want to go back to camp. I wasn't made for this kind of bullshit. I tried not to flinch as everyone simultaneously cocked their weapon.

Rick lifted his huge revolver and pointed it at G.

"So we're here." Rick finished.

Tick. Tock. The seconds inched by. Nobody breathed. Fuck I'm gonna have to shoot someone. I've never shot someone. Not for real! Fuck Glenn for dragging me into this shit. Fuck Merle Dixon for being enough of a shit head to entail being abandoned on a roof. Fuck me for being enough of a sucker to agree to help in this all.

The back door burst open, I took a quick breath ready to fire at the first sound of a trigger pulling.

"Felipe! Felipe!" An ancient woman with a heavy Spanish accent dressed in a moo moo lumbered outside.

What.

"Abuela! Go back inside! Now!" The one Daryl pegged hollered, never taking his eyes off of us.

"Get that old lady out of here!" Daryl screamed back. Oh god. I'm gonna have to shoot someone's grandmother. Sweet Jesus.

G turned his head towards the commotion, "Abuela, listen to your mijo, okay? This is the not the place for you right now."

The old lady continued rambling anyway, reaching out to Felipe. "Mr. Gilbert is having trouble breathing. He needs his asthma stuff. Carlitos didn't find it. He needs his medicine!"

"Ma'am?" Rick inquired, looking with concern at the old lady. She looked at him, instantly noticing his uniform.

"Sheriff? Felipe's a good boy. He has his trouble but he pulls himself together. We need him here. Please don't take him!" She changed direction and started to move towards Rick, hands coming together in a pleading motion.

Rick looked around at us, balancing his weight between his feet. He looked back at the woman.

"Ma'am, I'm not here to arrest your grandson." He stated with a sigh, lowering his weapon a few inches. I took a small breath. The tension in the group began to dissipate. Rick glanced sideways at G.

"Then what do you want him for?" She quizzed.

"He's," Rick's eyes swept the group; maybe hoping someone else could answer. Shooting him? Beating him up? What did he expect any of us to say?

"He's helping us find a missing person. Fella named Glenn." Rick finished.

"The Asian boy?" A flash of recognition crossed her face. "He's with Mr. Gilbert. Come. Come, I'll show you." She stepped forward and gently pushed the hand holding the revolver all the way down before delicately grabbing his other wrist and pulling him towards the door. Rick stared around helplessly at the rest of us before walking forward. As they neared G, G gave a large exasperate breath before saying:

"Let them pass." I traded wary looks with Daryl and T-Dog. Daryl shrugged and rolled his eyes, following the woman and Rick. T-Dog and I hesitantly rounded out the group and headed through the door, my hands finally left the grip of the rifle.

* * *

A/N Woohoo! Chapter 2! Thank you to my anonymous guest and theoriginalsrizzlesouat1D for the reviews! And to KatFaye, Thetroublewithexes, WolfMoon20045 for the favorites! Keep the feedback coming, any and all suggestions are considered. Hope you all had a lovely weekend :)


	3. Where are you tonight?

Nearly an hour later we walked out of the factory – no nursing home – and headed home. Glenn was okay, just as roughed up as Daryl, but fine for the most part. The strange turn of events of finding out the gang was actually left behind nurses caring for abandoned seniors had my head spinning. Navigating this new world seemed to get more complicated by the day.

I was walking next to Glenn, loaded up with my pack and guns, following behind Rick and T-Dog. Daryl had resumed what is apparently his "spot" at the back of the group.

"Admit it, Sheriff," Glenn began as we marched along back towards the box truck, "You just came back for the hat."

Rick flashed a grin back at us. "Don't tell anybody."

"You've given away half our guns and ammo." Daryl grumbled from the back. This still? We're actually still upset about this?

"I may be a glass half full kind of girl," I started, "but, last I checked we're headed back with about 15 more guns than we left with."

"All so some spics can keep a bunch of old farts going just so they can die later. How long you think they got anyway?" Daryl continued rambling to himself. My eyes rolled so hard into my head I worried for a second they were stuck.

"Oh my god." I heard Glenn next to me. I looked around us. The truck, where the hell was the truck?

"Where the hell's our van?" Daryl blurted out, pushing past us all and circling the tire tracks where the truck had been parked.

"Merle." Rick said with certainty.

Daryl looked uneasy, almost apologetic. "He's gonna be taking some vengeance back to camp." I looked in the face of each party member as we moved around the tire tacks leading away from the parking spot. The nearest usable vehicle was all the way back near the factory, and that's if we could even hotwire it. A big if. Though apparently Glenn had skills in that department.

"We got about a three hour walk back." Rick stated. My daypack and the two rifles suddenly felt heavy. The sun was starting to kiss the horizon. It would be dark by the time we made it back. Wasn't a fan of the dark before corpses were walking around in it, definitely wasn't a fan after.

The first hour went relatively quickly. Glenn was like a chipper little puppy, talking with Rick about the different guns he grabbed, his massive revolver (a Python I've been informed), if he could get a couple shooting lessons. T-Dog lead us with the bag of weapons Rick picked out to bring back. I brought up the rear with Daryl.

My stomach gave an audible rumble. I reached around my back and attempted to swing my daypack to my front so I could dig out a granola bar. The only thing I succeed in doing was getting my arm strung up in the crossed rifle slings. "Mother fuh—" I groused under my breath. I felt hands lift up the heavy assault rifle and pull the strap over my head. I continued to struggle for a moment to free my arm before finally getting out. My pack swung to my front. I looked up and saw Daryl holding the rifle over my head looking amused.

"Thanks." I mumbled. I dug around in my pack and produced two granola bars. "Hungry?" I asked him.

"Hell yeah." He quipped and snatched the second bar from me. I took a moment and pulled out my canteen as well, unscrewing the cap and taking a long drag from it.

"Water?" I offered him the canteen too. He nodded through a mouthful of snack bar and grabbed the canteen.

"You got snacks back there Jen?" Glenn said hopefully, looking back at the two of us. I reached in my pack smiling and pulled out three more granola bars. Tossing him one I called to Rick and T-Dog, holding up the bars. They both smiled and caught them.

By hour two, T-Dog and Rick had traded off the bag of guns. Glenn and I led the crowd.

"Do you think everyone is okay back at camp?" Glenn asked quietly. The sun had now set and the dim twilight barely illuminated him next to me. "You don't think Merle went on a rampage or anything right?"'

"It's probably fine. He's probably just back there hassling Andrea about seeing her bra on the clothes line or something."

"Remember how mad she got that time he grabbed Amy's ass?" Glenn said, looking back subtly at Daryl. "What if they kill him when he gets back, he's never been left alone at camp without Daryl."

"No one's killing anyone, Glenn." I said, exasperated. "It's fine. Whatever is happening back at camp is fine."

By hour three we were all quiet. The night had pressed in on us, the stars finally making an appearance. I kept my hands on the grip of the assault rifle, my eyes sweeping the road ahead of us. Every noise had me on edge. My eyes burned with fatigue, my hiking boots started to scuff the ground. I had finished my water a mile back and the dusty road was starting to coat my lips.

Rick had taken off the top of his uniform and was down to his undershirt. Daryl, Glenn, T-Dog and I walked in a line next to him, trying to keep alert.

"Shouldn't be far now." Rick said softly.

"The turn for the quarry road should be up ahead." Daryl supplied, gesturing with his hand holding the crossbow. "There's a route 14 sign about – " _Crack! Crack! Crack!_

Distant gunshots. Immediately we shot into a sprint in the direction of the sound. No could say a word as our breaths puffed out with each pounding step. The rifles and my pack bounced on my back as my arms pumped. My heart bounded in my throat. The closer we got the louder and more frequent the shots were, screams started to permeate the cracks.

We raced down the quarry road, stumbling down the hill into camp. I whipped the handgun out of my waistband and brought it up into my line of vision, still running. As we burst into camp it was pandemonium. Corpses everywhere. Momma. Where's Momma? Tents are trampled. Dale is standing in the center spitting out rounds with his rifle.

I fired the rifle at the nearest corpse reaching for me. The recoil knocked my shoulder back and forced me back a step. Glenn was to my right blasting away at a nasty rotten bastard reaching out for us. Don't panic. Breath. Don't panic. Act. Don't react. _Don't panic._ Find Momma.

"Momma!" I called out. "Momma!" I swiveled, shooting three rounds into something awkward stumbling towards me. My shoulder feeling bruised from the rifle stock. The corpse jerked with each bullet. The third round finally makes purchase in its skull. There was the twang of Daryl's crossbow behind me. Dale's rifle cracked to my left. The blast of Rick's Python echoed further back.

Screams. Sobbing. Cries for help. Shane stood bashing in skulls with a baseball bat. I didn't see Carol or Sophia. Or Momma.

"Momma!" I called one more time. Frantically I darted around camp, swapping the huge rifle for the .22 and firing anytime a corpse got within 10 feet of me. Some I hit the first try, others took me a couple shots to put down.

Finally the camp fell quiet, the last corpse put down by Shane's bat. I saw Carl and Lori engulfing Rick.

There was someone on the ground in front of the RV door, still with death.

"I don't know what to do!" Andrea cried from her position next to the body. "AMY!" Andrea yelled. She collapsed over her sister, body heaving from tears.

I spotted a head of long grey hair at the back of the RV. "Momma!" I called to her, running and gripping her fiercely in a tight hug.

"I'm ok." Momma said. "It's ok, I'm ok." I clung to her. Her rheumatic fingers twisted into my shirt before she stepped back and looked at me with concern. She noted the large rifle hanging across my body. I think she's realized our trip to the city didn't quite go as planned.

We both turned to face Amy and Andrea. She kept her arm wrapped around my shoulder. I leaned into her and took stock of the carnage. Bodies littered the campground. In the dark it was hard to decipher what's a corpse and what's a survivor. The knot in my chest tightened uncomfortably. My body ached to lie down, my eyes felt like they had lead weights attached to the lids. The adrenaline rush from the melee kept me upright, despite the shake in my knees. There would be no sleep tonight.

* * *

I dig.

I've always liked hard work. The rhythm of turning soil, the swing of the shovel, pitching of the dirt. Nothing else needing focusing on right now other than the hole I was in.

Glenn and Momma were circling around to help identify the bodies. Our own were being buried, the others….well they were being burned. Daryl and Shane were walking among the prone bodies with pickaxes, giving the final blow to those still moving. Lori and Carl were sitting with Carol and Sophia by the RV. Carol's husband hadn't survived the night. According to Momma it wasn't much of a loss.

Everyone else was hovering around Andrea. She still kneeled over Amy's body, silent for the past several hours. As the sun rose Rick, Lori, and Dale had joined her while the rest milled about working or pretending to clean up camp.

I dig.

A gentle hand on my shoulder had me lifting my head to see Momma.

"Have some water, baby." She said, holding out my canteen. I wiped my head on my sleeve and grabbed the canteen while thanking her. I took a swig of warm freshly boiled water and grimaced. It wasn't no sweet tea, that's for sure.

"How many more holes we need?" I leaned on my shovel. Jim, our resident mechanic, was in his own hole shoveling next to me.

"Yours is the last." I nodded and handed her back the canteen. Not sure I had it in me to dig another one. Blisters on the corners of my thumbs bled and burned. My shoulders ached with repeatedly tossing loads of dirt. My left shoulder twitched with the memory of the abuse of the assault rifle. Momma smiled at me wearily before heading over to Jim and offering him water as well.

I dig.

 _Crack._ A single shot sets me off. I threw myself out of my hole and looked around. In the distance down by the RV something's happened with Andrea. No one else seemed to rush into action. I take a few deep breaths and willed my heart to slow back down. Everything was ok.

I noticed Jim is no longer digging. He and Jaqui were starting to pull together corpses into a burn pile.

"Need a hand?" I called, quietly walking their way. Jaqui smiled at me. I hadn't spent a lot of time with her, but she was often down by the quarry pond with Andrea and Amy helping with the camp housekeeping. Nice enough I guess.

"Can you grab the feet?" Jim asked.

"Sure." I reached for the putrid shoes of whomever this poor chump used to be.

"Careful Jim," Jaqui warned, "You got blood on your shirt."

Jim and I set down the body. "Must be from moving the last one." Jim said, looking down his front. My eyebrow quirked up.

"Must have been a pretty fresh corpse for it to be that red." I said. Jaqui moved up next to me.

"Were – were you bit Jim?" Jaqui asked hesitantly. I took a step back and turned to look for Momma.

"No, no I just scratched myself on something during the attack." Jim tried to reassure us. I turned back to him.

"Momma can look at it, you know she was a nurse? Pretty good one at that." I told him while moving around in search of her.

"No really, it's nothing." Jim said.

"Prove it." Jaqui requested.

"Don't, it's fine." Jim pleaded.

"Hey Momma!" I called out smiling, seeing her with Dale and Andrea. "Hey, Momma! Can you come here fo—"

"Jim's bit!" Jaqui cried. I spun back towards her and Jim, watching her drop his bloody shirt. Shit.

Pounding feet behind me announced the arrival of the entire group.

"Let me look Jim." Momma softly called, walking towards him. Jim backed up, hands raised, shaking his head forlornly.

"I'm okay. It's okay. I'm okay." He murmured.

"Show it to us! Show us!" Daryl cried behind me.

"Just let me check you out Jim." Momma continued. "It'll be fine."

"Grab him." Daryl ordered. In a flash Jim bent down and picked up a shovel lying by his feet.

From nowhere T-Dog appeared behind Jim and grabbed him roughly. "Hey, easy guys!" I shouted. Daryl barged up and yanked up his shirt, Momma moved to stop him but backed down at the look on Daryl's face. I held my breath; the entire group seemed to stop breathing. A large nasty weeping bite wound stood out on Jim's belly. Time stopped. Jim collapsed to his knees. Momma squatted next to him, a hand on his shoulder as the other pressed a strip of fabric to the wound. She whispered something to him but I couldn't make it out.

The other camp residents gathered in a bunch behind me and I moved to join them.

"Jenny, can you please get us your canteen?" Momma requested. I moved to pick up my abandoned canteen by a grave. When I brought it back over to them I heard Daryl holler something and start stomping around with his pickaxe. I turned away and helped Momma get Jim up and moving. He finished the canteen and together we headed towards the shade of the RV awning.

"He can have the bed in the back, Marie." Dale called out from the knot of people. Momma waved her hand above her head in acknowledgement and together we helped Jim up the RV steps. He leaned heavily on us.

"Stay back, Momma," I said. "I'll get him settled." She was a tough one, but at 70 wasn't in a state to be hefting full grown men around. I let Jim down on the bed and stepped back, letting Momma move forward. Somehow she had already got a bowl of water and some cleanish towels.

"Jenny, baby, can you please find more towels?"

"Sure, Momma." I stepped out of the RV just as Rick approached the door.

"He in there?" The folks behind him look unsettled. Rick was on edge. "Marie in there with him?" My eyes swept the camp and landed back on Rick's face.

"Yeah. You want me to send her out?"

"Probably best if she tends to him for now." Rick said. He looks back worriedly at the group then meets my eyes. "Dale said she's a nurse?"

"Retired school nurse." I responded with a tight smile. "40 years at Hemby Bridge elementary."

"We're lucky to have her." He nodded and stepped back, heading for his wife and son, picking up a shovel on the way.

Around me work resumed on cleaning up the camp. Daryl and Glenn drove around collecting the rest of the corpses. Dale was by Andrea, trying to help her wrap Amy's body in a sheet. Carol and Lori occupied the kids while the remainders put tents and camping equipment upset by the herd back right.

I grabbed pillowcases and socks off the clothesline and brought them back to Momma and Jim.

"Good work, Jenny." Momma smiled at me. "Can you fold up the socks into pads?" She started ripping the pillowcases into strips. She took a few and soaked them in the water in the bowl then gently dabbed at Jim's wound.

"You don't have to do this, ma'am," Jim groaned out.

"Oh shush." Momma continued to dab at the wound. It's nasty looking. Deep bruises around clear-cut teeth marks, weeping oozy blood. "I'm a nurse, didn't you know?" She smiled at Jim.

"School nurse, said Dale." Jim responded, flinching as Momma wipes away dirt.

"That's right!" Momma exclaimed. She waved a hand at me. "You done with those socks yet Jenny?" I tossed one her way from my spot at the little kitchenette table.

"Sorry you're dealing with this." Jim looked out the window.

"I'd pick this over a 10 year old vomiting up French bread pizza on my lap. Believe you me." She smiled sweetly as she presses a pad of cloth to the wound and had him sit up further as she uses a strip of pillowcase to keep it there. He gasped as she cinched the knot tight. "Now, you just lay back and let me enjoy having someone to fuss over." She patted his shoulder and flipped the blanket over his legs. Momma then stood up and motioned for me to follow her outside. "Stay by the door Jenny," She watched everyone moving around camp. She's wary and I don't blame her. "I'm gonna rustle him up some more water and a little food.

"I'm on it." I sat myself on the stairs into the RV and watched her move off. About a half hour later Momma came back with Jaqui in tow and an armful of supplies for Jim.

"They're gonna start burying folks in a bit." Jaqui said, looking between Momma and me. "I'll sit with Jim. You two go be there."

"Thank you, Jaqui." Momma replied. "Be right out Jenny." I moved off the steps and waited under the awning for her and Jaqui to put everything down inside.

Once she came back out we marched up the hill to the gravesites. Everyone was gathered and milling about. Rick and Dale eventually got organized and started directing people to lower bodies into holes. The entire process was relatively quick. I grabbed a shovel and stepped up once the bodies started going in and began moving dirt. The work went fast, but when I moved to start covering Amy, I looked up and realize it's just Andrea, Dale, and I left.

Silently Andrea took the shovel from my hands and started to cover her sister. Dale and I stood by her side, not a word shared between us.

Andrea digs.

* * *

A/N Chapter 3! Woohoo! Daryl and Jenny interacted for like a whole second! Promise there will be more Daryl/Jenny interaction next chapter. Thank you to Croxs101 for the review and those of you that added it to your follow/favorites list. Remember, if you don't review, I don't know what's working or not working for y'all or what you want more/less of. Happy Saturday!


	4. Come and Get It

**Chapter 4**

Momma sat shotgun with my .22 in her lap. Our old Volvo station wagon putted along between Daryl Dixon's truck and Shane's Jeep, as we made our way to the CDC. I scanned the road obsessively, an anxious knot twisting my gut as we wound our way along the asphalt.

"Ben and Jerry's." Glenn said. "Hands down."

"Ben and Jerry's?" Momma questioned. "Who raised you boy? Graeter's no questions asked." A smile split my face, memories of competing for finding the biggest chocolate chunk in the Graeter's pints at Christmas dinner dancing through my head. "Go ahead, Jenny. You tell him."

"She's right. It's gonna be Graeter's."

"You ladies are crazy."

We had been discussing food since we ran out of applesauce an hour ago. No one was saying it, but we desperately needed whatever supplies they might have at the CDC.

Ahead of us the RV came to a halt, steam billowing from it's front. I pulled the Volvo up next to Shane. Cautiously, we all got out and approached Dale as he wiped his brow in front of the steaming radiator.

Jaqui appeared from the camper door with a frantic look on her face.

"Y'all, Jim… It's bad. I don't think he can take anymore." She knotted her hands in front of her.

Momma stepped ahead of me and followed her inside, Rick hot on her heels.

Shane piped up suddenly, "I'll drive ahead, see what I can bring back."

T-Dog stepped forward from his place next to Carol. "Yeah, I'll come along too and back you up." Shane nodded and signaled for T to follow him to his Jeep. Once he settled in the driver's seat he looked at us all.

"Y'all keep your eyes open now. We'll be right back." Then he started the vehicle and he and T-Dog disappeared down the road.

Left to our own devices we all found spots to hunker down. I lounged on the hood of my Volvo, my .22 settled next to me. Glenn leaned back against the bumper beside me, humming some sort of off key pop song as he looked around and kept alert.

A hand startled me. Was I asleep? Momma stood next to me looking dead serious.

"Jim wants us to leave him." I sat up abruptly and noticed everyone gathering around Rick on the RV steps. I slid off the hood and walked over with Momma.

Dale was speaking when we join up. "Back in the camp when I said Daryl might be right and you shut me down, you misunderstood. I would never go along with callously killing a man. I was just gonna suggest that we ask Jim what he wants. And I think we have an answer."

"We just leave him here? We take off? Man, I'm not sure I could live with that." I looked to Shane. He was shaking his head as he spoke.

Momma cleared her throat next to me. "It's our job to respect the man's wishes." I looked at her. After our life together the past few years it made sense for her to support this. It put a sour taste in my mouth. "I would hope you would do the same for me and my daughter as well."

Silence gripped us all. I stared at my feet uncomfortable. Momma was a realist. Beneath my cynicism, I am too.

I looked up as Rick resigned himself to agree. He turned to Shane. "Help me carry him out?"

Shane dropped his head and bounced a yes before following Rick in the RV.

Despite their careful movement of Jim, I could hear him groan and wheeze in pain as they carried him to a nearby tree. Jaqui followed them while I stood with Momma and together we watched as they eased him down. Jaqui kissed his cheek and wiped a tear before walking back to us and sitting down on the RV steps. I walked away to give her some privacy, but Momma stayed and sat quietly with her. No words were said as she put a hand on Jaqui's knee.

I grabbed my .22 off the hood of the Volvo and sat by myself in the driver seat, my head leaning on the steering wheel, eyes closed. This world was exhausting and in all honesty genuinely depressing. I always knew life was unfair but shit, this is just starting to feel excessive. I lifted my head as the passenger door opened and Glenn slid in.

"Your mom said to tell you she's gonna stay with Jaqui." I blinked tiredly.

"Sounds good." I said.

"Want me to drive?" He asked.

"I'm fine. Thanks for the offer." I breathed in deeply and started the car, waiting for Shane to get rolling ahead of me. Glenn sat quietly.

"Shoot me."

"I'm sorry?" I looked at him warily.

"Please, if I'm ever bit. Just fucking shoot me." He's stared straight ahead, dead serious.

"I'll promise if you promise to do me in too." I said as I pulled the shifter into drive.

"Deal." He said resolutely and without hesitation. We drove on. The following hours were quiet. Glenn rotated through the old cassette tapes in the glove box, a weird combination of Judas Priest, Prince, Spice Girls, and Johnny Cash. It helped fill the silence.

As the sun began setting, the caravan rolled to a stop. A sign out front signaled we made it to the CDC. We all carefully exited our vehicles. I strapped the heavy assault rifle back on over my shoulder. I met Momma in front of the RV and handed her my .22. Jaqui was despondent next to her. They fell in a group with Carol, Lori, Andrea, Dale and the children. Rick, T-Dog, Daryl and Shane took the front, all with weapons raised. Glenn and I brought up the rear, scanning behind us to make sure nothing thought we're a dinner option.

The bodies surrounded us. They were necrotic and rotten. Flies buzzed our faces. Glenn retched as the breeze wafted the warm stench into our nostrils. I gagged and felt the bile start to rise in my throat. I turned my head and spit to the side.

"Keep it together, keep moving." Shane called quietly in front.

Lori leaned down to Carl and encouraged him along. Rick marched ahead and pounded on the metal gate covering the entrance.

"Nothing?" Shane asked. I looked around anxiously, scanning the scene with the assault rifle up. I moved Glenn and I to stand in front of Momma and the others. Momma had the .22 up and ready to go. She's mostly blind in one eye but it don't stop her from hitting corpses.

Shane took a turn pounding the door. I looked back to watch the bodies on the ground. Daryl paced around like an animal, his crossbow lifted and finger on the trigger.

"There's nobody here!" T-Dog hollered behind me.

"Then why are these shutters down?" Rick called back, pounding on the gate again.

"Walkers!" Daryl yelled, firing his bow and landing one in between the eyes.

Shit. Shit. Shit. My hands sweat, my fingers tightened on the handle. The rifle was loud, I don't want to fire it unless I really have to. I stared down the scope and scanned for another corpse.

"Dixon, 10 o'clock!" I called out. He fired again and brought another one down.

"You led us to a graveyard!" Daryl cried. He stalked closer to Glenn and I with his crossbow raised. I pointed out another moving body to him that I spotted with my scope. He didn't fire yet. _Pop_. _Pop._ Momma brought it down with the .22.

"He made a call!" Shane said. Footsteps started to back up toward me. Warm, living, bodies pressed into my back.

"What's the plan?!" I asked. My heartbeat was racing. My eyes skidded across the body littered pavement.

"Where are we gonna go?" Jaqui wailed behind me.

"We can't be here." It was Lori this time. "We can't be this close to the city after dark." More people pressed against me. I started to pant. The stress was suddenly overwhelming. We were all like cornered animals. Don't panic. Act. Don't react. Don't panic.

"Fort Benning is still an option." Shane shouted.

"We'll think of something." Rick answered. I heard more banging on the gate.

"Let's go!" Shane pleaded. "Let's get out of here. It's lost!" My eyes swept the area frantically. Glenn shifted next to me. I saw the barrel of the .22 out of the corner of my eye.

"I know you're in there! I know you can hear me!" Ricks was nearly sobbing.

This was what desperation feels like.

"Rick. There's nobody here." Lori consoled him.

"Please help us! You're killing us! You're killing us!" Rick continued. More banging on the gate.

Suddenly a lurch of gears, a whine of pulleys, the shuttered gate slowly started to open behind me.

"Daryl and Jenny, you cover the back!" Shane shouted. I pulled the assault rifle up level with my eye and moved it side to side. The pressure on my back released as whomever was against me stepped towards the open door.

Someone tapped my shoulder and I spun around to follow the small swarm of people running inside.

"Hello? Hello!" Rick called out as I lurched inside the doors.

I stopped abruptly at the sound of a weapon cocking in front of us.

"Anybody infected?" A man approached us in a t-shirt and slacks; a very large and very intimidating military grade automatic weapon in his hands. Rick stepped forward to answer him.

"One of us was. He didn't make it." Silence all around. Poor Jim.

"Why are you here? What do you want?" Demanded the stranger.

"A chance." Rick pleaded. The stranger took a beat to consider the request. My arms started to twitch from continuing to grip my heavy rifle. Glenn shuffled his feet anxiously in front of me. I don't think I was breathing.

"That's asking an awful lot these days." The stranger responded.

Rick bobbed his head. "I know."

"You all submit to a blood test." The man looked around at us all, taking stock of our condition. He lowered his gun and gestured towards the door behind him. "You got stuff to bring in, you do it now. Once this door closes it stays closed."

"We can do that." Rick affirmed. In a breath we all rushed forward into the light.

* * *

I was too exhausted to be leery of the doctor's (" _Dr. Edwin Jenner",_ apparently) choice of weapon. We shuffled through the blood draws in a daze, fatigue and hunger becoming all consuming. I held on to Momma's arm as we headed towards a large commercial kitchen.

"Think he's got cheese grits in there?" Momma quietly murmured to me.

"Don't matter none, I only eat yours." I replied. I sat down with Momma at the table while Dr. Jenner maneuvered around the kitchen with Carol and Jaqui getting dinner ready. Glenn and the others joined us at the table. Sophia seated herself close to where Carol was cooking. Carl leaned against Lori, his eyes drifting closed as he fought off sleep.

"Pasta alright with everyone?" Jenner called to us.

"Pretty sure I'd eat dog food right now." Glenn called back.

"I wouldn't." Carl piped up. "Dog food tastes gross." A few chuckles bubbled up around the table.

"Yeah little man? How would you know?" T-Dog asked, a large smile splitting his face. Carl grinned in response.

"I've got wine," Jenner started, "but you might want to wait until you've got some food in you."

"Wine?" Andrea asked, looking around.

"There is a god!" Cried Momma.

Twenty minutes later the table was spread with a bounty of spaghetti and Wonder bread with glasses of wine and other assorted booze in front of everybody.

"You know, in Italy, children have a little bit of wine with dinner. And in France." Dale said from next to Momma.

"Well, when Carl is in Italy or France, he can have some then." Lori chided.

"What's it gonna hurt?" Rick pressed as Dale and Momma laughed along.

"My Jenny's been sippin moonshine since she could walk. She turned out just fine" Momma shared.

"Momma!" I shouted with a grin. "You gonna make these nice folks think you were raising some little bootlegger feral child."

"'S'plains a lot." Daryl said with a grin.

"You would know, hillbilly!" I retorted.

"What do you think your daddy grew all that corn for baby girl?" Momma asked with a cheeky smile. Dale grinned broadly at us both. Glenn erupted in laughter.

"Momma!" It felt good to laugh. Dale handed Carl a glass with a bit of wine in it. The chatter stilled as he took a sip.

"Ewwww" Carl grimaced. The table lit up with laughter and babble once again. Across from me Daryl was egging Glenn on.

"Keep drinking little man. I wanna see how red your face can get!" Daryl said while pushing the wine bottle closer to Glenn. Glenn groaned and took a big swig straight from the bottle.

It didn't take long before the wine seeped into all our veins and the conversation turned to low mutters. My limbs felt heavy and I knew my eyelids were starting to droop. A pleasant buzz circled my head as I sipped another glass.

"So doc," Shane started, staring down into his glass. I stretched up from my slump at his tone. "So when are you gonna tell us what the hell happened here? All the - the other doctors that were supposed to be figuring out what happened, where are they?"

Rick frowned at him. "We're celebrating, Shane. Let's not do this now."

"This is why we're here, right?" Shane barged on. "This was your move—supposed to find all the answers. Instead we found him!" He pointed an accusatory finger at Jenner.

I shifted uncomfortably next to Momma. Couldn't we save this for the morning?

"Well," Jenner started, "When things got bad, a lot of people just left, went off to be with their families. And when things got worse, when the military cordon got overrun…the rest bolted."

"Every last one?" Shane pushed.

"Many…they…opted out. There was a rash of suicides. It was a bad time." Jenner finished, staring down at his hands.

Silence.

"Dude, you are such a buzz kill, man." Glenn said, utterly exasperated (and not a little tipsy).

Silence.

"…is there a restroom anywhere?" I looked at Jenner hopefully. Everyone sat still.

"Yes, yes of course. Let me show you all around." Jenner replied.

The pressure broke, Dale and Momma started a low conversation next to me while clearing their plates. Daryl and Glenn continued to drink from the bottles while the rest of the group picked at the remainder of their suppers.

* * *

Back at my farm I like to think I lived a simple life. I survived off my income from the farmer's markets and adjunct teaching at the university. I didn't spend on extravagance. My time off was spent camping or otherwise travelling cheaply, hostels, backpacking, etc. So when the world went to shit and we lost simple things like hot water, and soft beds, I wasn't completely put out. It was fine, I had done worse. Growing up we often chose to wash up in the outdoor shower in the summer, the lack of hot water actually a blessing in the hot Georgia sun.

But the shower that night, in that claustrophobic little cubicle, with 4 whole minutes of hot water, was positively blissful. The heat soothed my aches from the week's labor. I stood under the water with my arms braced against the wall, letting the pressure massage the knots along the top of my shoulders. I could have died in that shower and been perfectly happy with my ending.

Momma and I had bunked up in offices next to each other with Dale, Glenn, and Andrea adjacent to us. After my clean up, I put on fresh clothes (further compounding the bliss level) and wandered into Momma's room next door. Momma was sitting on the little couch next to Dale, a somber look on both their faces.

"Everything OK in here?" I inquired. Momma smiled at me and patted Dale's hand.

"Dale was just worried about Andrea. Sounds like she's had a bit too much to drink." Momma replied. I looked between the two of them, noticing their hands were now interlaced. I crossed my arms and leaned against the little desk across from them.

"I imagine losing Amy is weighin' pretty heavy on her." I responded, feeling a bit awkward with the closeness between Momma and Dale.

"She's feeling pretty hopeless," Dale started with a sigh, "I found her getting sick in her bathroom. She was pretty hung up on everything being pointless."

"You think she might hurt herself?" I asked, looking up at Dale and tossing a glance at Momma. Her face was tight with concern as she looked sideways at Dale and placed her other hand on top of their clasped ones.

"I don't know. Don't think so much that, more like if the opportunity arose she might…I don't know…" He let the sentence drift off. "Either way, she kicked me out, I doubt she'd open the door for me to check on her." I nodded.

"I'll look in on her in a bit. I'm sure it was just the wine talking." I offered.

"Thanks Jenny." Dale said. "It's important we all keep looking out for each other." I nodded in return and pushed off from the desk.

"Well, I'm gonna go take a wander then get to bed. You two…staying up for a bit?" I couldn't help but notice Momma hadn't let go of Dale's hand.

"I'm gonna hit the hay I think." Momma answered, "It's been a long day."

"Been a long couple months!" Dale supplied, a twinkle in his eye (that I hoped was just from the wine) as he looked at Momma and squeezed her hands. I needed to get out of here, fast.

"Right, well…Goodnight Momma." I leaned over and gave her a kiss on the cheek. Her hands came up to squeeze my shoulders.

"Goodnight, babygirl."

I looked to Dale and gave him a nod. He and Momma looked like two teenagers sitting there with their hands now on their own knees. "Night, Dale," I said.

"Goodnight, Jenny." He nodded back. I stood there awkwardly for a moment, just glancing back and forth between the two.

"Right." I mumbled, and stepped out the door, pulling it shut quietly behind me.

Ahead of me stood Andrea's door. I don't know if I would go as far as to call Andrea and I friends, but we were in the very least friendly. I definitely didn't wish ill upon her. And I'm sure we'd be best friends in a month or two if Momma took it upon herself to interfere. Momma had already worked her way into the hearts of Carol and Lori, I was sure it was only a matter of time before she branched out some more and dragged me along with her. I eyed the door as I turned down the corridor, making note to look in on her on my way back to bed. My feet pulled me in the direction of the kitchen, hoping for a glass of water to help wash down the wine from earlier.

Or maybe a glass of wine and then a glass of water.

A door softly opening to my side caused me to pause. Daryl came shuffling out, a bottle of Jack in one hand and a pack of cigarettes in the other. His hair was damp like mine and he wore clean clothes too, apparently everyone had enjoyed the hot water tonight. I raised an eyebrow at him. I had stupidly assumed everyone had turned in for the night.

"What?" He ground out, his eyes narrowed.

"Nothing." I said, a placid look on my face. I rocked back on my heels a moment and sucked my teeth. He closed the door behind him as quietly as he had opened it and stepped fully into the hallway next to me. He shifted uncomfortably, as if considering something.

"Where you headed?" He finally asked, his voice quiet and rough, his face still narrow with suspicion.

"Kitchen, you?"

"Kitchen." He took a swig of the Jack. If he was as drunk as the half empty bottle suggested he hid it well. I eyed the pack of cigarettes in his hand.

"What, can't sneak a butt in your room?" I smiled at him, hoping he understood I was just being friendly and not actually concerned with whatever he's up to.

"Smoke detectors." He deadpanned, lifting the hand holding the bottle and pointing at the ceiling. A small, quiet smile started to grow on his face. It felt contagious, my own mouth turned up in response.

"Right. Wanna walk together?" I jerked my head in the direction of the kitchen. Daryl nodded and started off. I trailed a few steps, surprised at his apparent sobriety, before jogging to pull alongside him. We walked to the end of the hall in silence. I could see the open kitchen and eating area ahead of us, the lights were dimmed and the space seemed deserted.

Daryl headed straight for the hood vent and propped his bottle on the cooktop. I grabbed the half open bottle of wine on the counter and jumped up to sit on the stainless steel counter. Daryl pulled a cigarette out and lit up, then offered the open pack to me.

I shouldn't. Cancer is still a real thing in this world. I hadn't smoked regularly since college and even then it was maybe once or twice a week if I had been drinking…like tonight. Drinking socially, enjoying a friend's company (like with Andrea, we were the very least friendly), having a smoke on someone's deck. But smoking's bad for you. And cancer is definitely still a real thing in this world.

I smiled and grabbed a cigarette out of the pack, leaned over Daryl's hands as he flicked his Bic lighter, and dragged.

"Sweet Jesus, this might be the best smoke I've ever had." My eyes slid shut in satisfaction as I exhaled towards the hood vent. Daryl chuckled next to me.

"You ain't so bad." I heard him say.

"Yeah? What the hell is that supposed to mean?" I leveled a sharp eye at him and swigged the wine, then pulled on the cigarette again.

"Nothin', just sayin'." He shrugged.

"Yeah?" I pulled again, swigged the wine again. A pause stretched between us as I looked down at my bare feet swinging against the cabinet.

"Thanks." He murmured shyly, his eyes concentrating intently on peeling the label off the whiskey bottle.

I turned my head to him and watched his movement.

"For what?"

"Coming to look for Merle. I know he's a prick, you didn't have to help." He kept the conversation directed at his mutilation of the bottle label.

"Oh," I looked back down at the cigarette in my hand, flicking the ash into a dirty cup next to me. "Well, don't thank me, thank Momma. I wouldn't have done it if she didn't tell me to." An uncomfortable guilty feeling began to grow in my chest. Merle was Daryl's brother, his only family as far as I knew. It never should have been a question for any of us to go after him.

"She's a good lady." Daryl said after a minute, then took a long pull from the whiskey bottle. "Helped me detox Merle. Don't think she told nobody neither."

"She said he had the flu." I ground out with a groan. Because of course. Of course my good sweet patient kind Momma has been secretly taking care of everyone in camp. Of course, after everything that's happened before and after the world ended she wouldn't think twice about helping some strung out hillbilly asshole detox in a tent while his brother feeds half the camp. I harshly pulled on the cigarette and stubbed it hard into the dirty glass I had been ashing in. Fuck this shouldn't bother me this bad.

Daryl gave a grunt of affirmation. I drank deeply from the bottle of wine. I could feel him eyeing me sideways. I put the bottle down and just gripped the edge of the counter, staring at the floor as my mind went in fifty different directions. I scrubbed my eyes with one hand. The pack of cigarettes reappeared in my line of vision. I looked back up at him, already holding a fresh lit smoke in between his lips. With a sigh I grabbed another and lit it when Daryl offered the Bic to me again.

These days one could only hope to live long enough to get cancer.

I breathed out with a sigh.

"Sorry. I shouldn't be so bent up about that." I resigned.

"S'ok," He nodded in affirmation. And for some reason I believed that it really was no skin off his back. We dragged our cigarettes, killed our bottles, and silently enjoyed not being alone.

* * *

A/N Chapter 4! Thanks so much AeslinnArt for the review and the rest of you for the follows and favorites! This chapters a bit long, but some good Daryl/Jenny chat at the end. Next couple chapters starts to build on their friendship a bit more and expand on Jenny and Momma a bit more too. As always, reviews help feel the soul and let me know that I'm headed in the right direction, or not Have a great weekend!


	5. Burn the Whole World Down

I wouldn't call what I was feeling "hungover". Hangovers involved a handful of Tylenol and sleeping all day and not leaving the couch for hours at a time. My face felt like it had melted into my pillow. My mouth was cottony and there was a lead weight rolling back and forth inside my skull.

"Ughhhhhh…" I'm not even sure what the noise was that came out of me. With a monumental effort I evicted myself from my cot, used the facilities, and shuffled to the door. I wouldn't be surprised if I had turned into a corpse during the night. I felt barely human. I paused with my hand on the door handle, gearing up to go out and face the day.

Once out in the hall I took stock of the rooms around me. Andrea's door was opened. I had looked in on her last night and saw her asleep on the little sofa that was now empty, so it was probably safe to assume she had not "opted out". I faced Momma's door. It was closed, was she still asleep? I raised my hand to the door knob, my brain continuing to feel like a hydraulic press was squeezing it tight.

The door opened suddenly.

Dale stood there, a pleasantly surprised look on his face. I stared at him, finally realizing I was at the wrong room.

"Sorry." I mumbled, turning to head to the door on the opposite side.

"Oh it's no problem, Marie will be out in a minute." I stared at him. His friendly face stared back at me. A strangled sort of sound passed my lips. My hand came up to scrub at my eyes, understanding but still not totally comprehending.

"Just tell her I'll be in the kitchen." I finally managed before turning and shuffling off down the hall, not even waiting for a reply.

This was fine. This was all fine. Good for Momma.

Is this what she felt like when she caught Ben Dwyer sneaking out of my room after my 18th birthday?

Ugh.

Once in the kitchen I plopped into a seat next to Glenn. Poor Glenn, who looked like he wished he could fall through the floor.

"You alive?" I asked him. He groaned in response, never lifting his head from the hand propping it up. His eyes were closed and his mouth hung a little open. I patted his back then reached for the coffee as others started to filter in.

T-Dog bustled around the kitchen, having tasked himself with providing us all breakfast. Dale and Momma arrived, thankfully not holding hands or anything, looking pleased as punch with themselves. Momma sat across from me while Dale took up next to her.

"Mornin' babygirl." She chimed. I leveled her with a stare. My eyebrows raising. She smiled, all cheeky-like.

"Mornin'." I replied, taking a large drag of the coffee.

Eventually the others all filtered in, many looking worse for wear, just as T-Dog finished the cooking.

"Eggs?" T-Dog started to make the rounds at the table with his pan in hand. "Powdered, but I do 'em good." Glenn moaned a dying man's breath while I raised a finger for a serving. "Bet you can't even tell!" T-Dog said proudly.

A bottle of aspirin made the rounds. Rick looked ready to keel over while Lori and Carl were as fresh faced as Momma and Dale. Carol and Sophie were bright eyed as well. I was happy to see Daryl was at least moving slow, even if he wasn't feeling as bad as the rest of us.

"What the Hell happened to you?" I hear T-Dog say. "Your neck?" I looked up from picking at my eggs to see everyone looking at Shane. Long red scratches ran the side of his neck.

Those definitely weren't there yesterday. Fuck, was he scratched by a corpse and we didn't notice?

Shane looked confused and brought a hand up to feel it.

"Must have done it in my sleep," he supplied.

"Never seen you do that before," Rick added, looking extremely concerned. I took another bite of eggs - T-Dog was good at powdered - and sipped my coffee.

"Me neither. Not like me at all." Shane said. This whole thing smelled wrong but what do I know. Everyone went back to eating their food and minding their own suffering.

"Morning!" Jenner appeared in the door. Noise around the table greeted him in return.

"Doctor," Dale started, "I don't mean to slam you with questions first thing –"

"But you will anyway." Jenner supplied, tight lipped.

"We didn't come here for the eggs." Andrea, who I hadn't really taken stock of yet this morning, was leaning against the countertop. Jenner sighed, resigned.

"Follow me." He said. Plates and cups clattered and chairs scraped against the floor and we all lumbered as one behind him.

* * *

He led us to a lecture theater of sorts. We stood there transfixed as he showed us the video of TS-19. Like a meningitis he said. Invades the brain he said. Momma gripped my hand as we watched the bullet flash through the image.

Tears poured down Andrea's face. I moved forward to place a hand on her shoulder.

"You shot the patient in the head. Didn't you?" Andrea spat. Jenner just stared down at his feet.

"Vi, power down the main screen and the workstations."

"Powering down main screen and workstations." The disembodied voice informed us all.

I kept my grip on Andrea's shoulder and squeezed, hoping to impart some form of comfort to her.

"You have no idea what it is, do you?" Andrea continued. Jenner shook his head.

"It could be microbial, viral, parasitic, fungal." He shrugged and looked around.

"Wrath of god?" Jaqui replied.

"Not my god." Momma added in.

"Somebody must know something, somebody somewhere." Andrea added desperately.

"There are others, right? Other facilities?" Carol this time, speaking from the edge of the group, her arms tight around Sophia.

"There may be some." Jenner acquiesced. "People like me."

Rick moved forward towards him. "But you don't know?" He asked. "How can you not know?"

"Everything, all communications went down. I've been in the dark almost a month." A statement. No room for hope in his words.

"So there's nothing left anywhere? Nothing? That's what you're saying?" Andrea was bordering on hysterical. The truth in her words weighed heavily in my chest. My hand that was held in Momma's squeezed. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. It echoed in my mind.

Daryl, leaning against one of the work desk consoles, brought a hand up to the bridge of his nose and shook his head. "Man," He spoke, "I'm gonna get shitfaced drunk again." I'd laugh, if it weren't all so freaking depressing.

Dale stepped up, out of the corner of my eye I saw his hand brush Momma's arm.

"Dr. Jenner," said Dale, "I know this has been taxing for you and I hate to ask one more question." He took a breath. "But…that clock…what happens at zero?"

Cold and clinical, Jenner responded.

"The basement generators run out of fuel."

"…and then?" Rick pressed. Jenner said nothing, just turned on his heel and left. "Vi, what happens when the power runs out?" Rick inquired.

"When the power runs out, facility-wide decontamination will occur." The disembodied voice supplied without emotion. Rick and Shane took off running with several others in tow.

I looked back at Momma.

"Fuck this, I'm getting a drink." Daryl exclaimed then walked stiffly back in the direction of the offices we'd been camped out in.

"Come on, baby." Lori said to Carl. "Let's go to the rec room and play some games. Carol? Sophia? You want to come?" Carol nodded and towed Sophia behind her towards Lori.

"I'll join you folks." Momma said. Dropping my hand and heading for the door. She looked back at me. "Jenny, what are you gonna do?" I wasn't really sure. I didn't have it in me to go play games and pretend everything was hunky dory. I looked at Andrea, she had placed herself despondently in one of the desk chairs.

"I'll stay here a bit." I resign, parroting Andrea and apparently Jaqui and easing down in a chair. I could use a nap if anything. Momma nodded.

"I'll walk you all to the rec room and see what else is going on." Dale said, ushering everyone towards the door, subtly grabbing on to Momma's hand. Guess that's official then.

The big room was quiet when they left. Andrea sat next to me staring ahead vacantly. The headache from the wine last night pressed against my temples. I blinked slowly, trying to ignore it, but my brain moved sluggishly.

"Is this really all that's left for us?" Jaqui said from behind me. "Living down here like rabbits, holed up with no power, hoping the world comes back above us?"

"Nothing's coming back." Andrea said with a heavy finality. "You heard him. It's all gone."

"We can't stay here." I added, my brain starting to form somewhat coherent thoughts. "If someone like Jenner can make it in a place like this, there's gotta be other places out there. Other people. Safe places where it don't matter if we run out of fuel."

"What's the point?" Andrea turned fiercely sad eyes to me. "This isn't a life. There's gonna be no one left to care about." I looked imploringly at Jaqui for some sign of hope but she just stared mournfully into the distance. I was as much of a skeptic as anyone, but I wasn't ready to give up on humanity completely, not yet.

"You know better, Andrea. We got each other." I beseeched.

"I got nobody." Andrea said. "My sister, my only family, is dead. I failed her." Tears started to prick her eyes again. Jaqui stayed silent. What do I say to that? I would probably feel the same if it had been my sweet sister Josi lying in that grave back at the camp.

"We can't stay here." I repeated, almost a mantra now as it rolled around my mind. I didn't know where we could go. But I just knew I wasn't gonna be living or dying in this place. "We can't stay here." A whisper under my breath this time. I tilted back in the chair and allowed my eyes to slip close. I wasn't intending to sleep, but in the dimmed lights of the lecture area, my eyes and mind throbbed a steady tempo.

I didn't have anything else to offer Andrea but my presence. I hoped it was enough for now. The clocked ticked on behind us.

* * *

I don't know how long we sat there together. I think I slipped into sleep for at least a few minutes. The quiet whir of the air circulation and the dimmed lights had lulled me into some sort of meditative state. Raised voices and a commotion startled me into alertness.

"It was the French." Jenner directed loudly at Andrea next to me.

"What?" Andrea questioned. The rest of the group had congregated once more in the big room. I suddenly noticed the emergency floods were on and an eerily uncomfortable quiet has replaced the ventilation system.

"What happened to the air?" I said aimlessly, looking around at the vents.

"They were the last ones to hold out as far as I know." Jenner rambles on. "While our people were bolting out the doors and committing suicide in the hallways, they stayed in the labs till the end. Thought they were close to a solution."

That's great and all, but is no one else concerned about our lack of air? I couldn't be the only one, right?

"What happened?" Jaqui demanded from next to Andrea. I regarded the group, noticing Momma in the back with Dale. Rick, Shane, Glenn, and T-Dog looked riled up about something. Daryl stood with a seemingly fresh bottle of open whiskey. Wonder if he was shitfaced yet.

"The same thing that's happening here. No power grid. Ran out of juice." Jenner looked almost manic. "The world runs on fossil fuel. I mean, how stupid is that?" He gave a chuckle.

This wasn't feeling very funny.

"Everybody, get your stuff." Rick demanded of us. "We're getting out of here now!" What the hell was going on? I agree we should leave but what's the emergency? We could live a few hours without power, right?

"Can someone share what the fuck is happening?" I couldn't keep to myself. I don't like being kept in the dark. I like plans. I take comfort in them. This stank of spontaneity and fear.

"Thirty minutes to decontamination." Vi blared over the speaker. The group took a collective breath.

"Doc, what's going on here?" Daryl asked, a low dangerous warning in his voice. Jenner moved to a keypad and typed something in.

"Y'all heard Rick." Shane shouted.

"Get your stuff and let's go! Go now! Go!" The urgency in Rick's voice was alarming. If people panicked we would never get out of here cleanly. I stood up, my heart starting to race a bit as I moved towards Momma and Dale.

"Let's go." I heard T-Dog say to Carol and Sophia.

"Come on!" Glenn turned to urge me on. What did he know? I jogged the last few steps towards Momma and Dale. Everyone as a group rushed towards the door. My sweaty palm grabbed Momma's hand and Glenn grabbed my other.

The door slid shut with a final _clang_. Glenn turned with a ferocity I didn't know he had in him.

"No. Did you just lock us in? He just locked us in!" Glenn shouted, fear and anger tainting his voice.

Chaos.

"Mom!"

"Carl!"

"You son of a bitch!"

"No! Stop!"

"You lying—"

I looked frantically at Momma, her own eyes wide with fear. Daryl was lunging at Jenner, the half smashed whiskey bottle held with a clear vicious intent. Shane and Rick struggled to hold him back. His arms flailed, reaching for Jenner.

"Don't do it!" T-Dog implored.

"Open the door Jenner!" Rick begged, his grip on Daryl slipping.

'There's no point." He said tonelessly. "Everything topside is locked down. The emergency exits are sealed."

 _We can't stay here. We can't stay here._ I looked wildly to Momma. Her eyes danced quickly between watching the scene in front of her and my face. No fear in her face. Just determination.

"Well just open the damn things!" Dale implored, his face open and pleading.

"That's not something I control. I told you once that front door closed, it wouldn't open again. It's better this way!"

"What?" Rick sounded alarmed, his eyes flitted to the large red numbers counting down. "What happens in 28 minutes?"

 _We can't stay here. We can't stay here._ I felt Momma's hand start to clutch at my arm.

Jenner eased himself down into his desk chair. "Decontamination. H.I.T.s are deployed to prevent any organisms held here from getting out."

"H.I.T.s?" I hear it murmured by several people.

"VI, define." Jenner resigned.

"H.I.T.s – high-impulse thermo baric fuel-air explosives. A two-stage aerosol ignition of greater power than any other known explosive except nuclear. Useful when the greatest loss of life and damage to structures is desired." Robotic monotone.

Jenner raked forlorn eyes around the group. "It sets the air on fire. No pain."

A soft thud turned my attention behind me. Momma whirled as Carol held a sobbing Sophia on the floor, tears streaming down their faces. Momma's hands left me as she rushed to their side.

The space beside me felt cold. Anxiety, fear, a touch of panic clenched my chest. I met Glenn's wide eyes. Act. Don't react. Don't panic. Act. Don't react. Don't panic. A crash of shattering glass broke the moment as activity whirled around us.

"Open the damn door!" Daryl shouted, lunging once more at Jenner. Axes appeared in Shane's and T-Dog's hands. T-Dog lobbed one to Daryl who caught it deftly and ran to the door with them.

I moved to Momma's side and kneeled next to her on the carpet. She had her arms around Carol and Sophia. "We ain't dying here." She murmured softly to them. "Our boys will get us out. We ain't dying here." She cooed.

"Momma," I croaked at her, feeling lost and not sure what to do. _Look for the helpers_. She used to tell me. Though I'm pretty sure she got that from a Mr. Rogers episode. Or maybe he got it from her. I petted Sophia's head awkwardly as I silently pleaded with the universe to send me a directive. The crash of the axes and hollering voices continued in the background. It couldn't come to this right? All this fight for some asshole to decide we had to stop because he said so?

Jenner's quiet, sullen voice cut through the din. "You want this Rick. Last night you said you knew it was just a matter of time before everybody you loved was dead."

Well shit.

"There is no hope." Jenner pushed. "There never was."

I broke.

"Listen to me asshole," all eyes turned to me. I rushed towards him, fire in my belly, and thrust my finger in his face, leering over him. "It's fine if you want to end it here. But you don't have no place telling us this is it. You've been holed up in your den dying while we've been out there living. TS-19. You were close to them weren't you. Your wife, or maybe your daughter or son, I'm guessing? What would they say about this?" I was panting with the exertion of restraining myself from just decking him across the face. It wouldn't do for a lady to get physical. Or so Momma says.

Andrea lurched to her feet. "What part of 'everything is gone' do you not understand?"

"Listen to your friend." Jenner replied. Andrea was not feeling like my friend right now. "She gets it. This is what takes us out. Our extinction event."

Sobs continued behind me. I didn't have the heart to look back. Anger blistered inside my throbbing brain. Fuck Jenner and his bleak shittiness. Fuck Andrea and her apathy and inability to cope.

"It might be yours, but it's not mine. My life isn't anybody's but my own!" I wasn't shouting. No, I learned better from Momma than to shout. I let the cold disappointment leak through the words that twisted inside me. Disappointment in this world for going so wrong, disappointment in Jenner for going so wrong, disappointment in myself.

A shotgun cocked behind me.

"Shane, no!" Rick shouted. My head whipped to the side to see a barrel next to my face pointed directly at Jenner's head.

"Out of my way, Rick. Stay out of my way! Open that door or I'm gonna blow your head off. Do you hear me?"

Yeah, threaten the suicidal idiot with murder, that should do it. I stared tensely at Shane as Rick eased up to us.

"This is not the way you do this. We will never get out of here if he's dead." Rick consoled him.

"You fire that Shane and you'll blast my ear drum out." I said, eyeing his very itchy finger on the trigger. Shane faltered a moment, considering. "He wants to die, Shane. He doesn't care about that gun." I speak quietly, trying to placate him.

"Shane." Rick pleaded. With a yell Shane swung and fired _BANG BANG,_ racked the chamber and fired again, _BANG,_ into the computer console next to Jenner's head. I flinched away in a crouch and threw my hands around my ears with a shout. My ears rang and my vision spun, dazed from the weapon discharged next to my head. I watched mutely as Rick struggled with Shane before finally wrestling the gun away from him. Rick swung the butt of the stock across Shane's head and dropped him with an elbow. Shane hit the ground with what I could only assume was a grunt.

"Are you done now? You done?" Rick hollered trying to regain control of the situation. The ringing in my ear got louder as Rick pushed the gun at me. I gripped it tightly, panting as I eyed Shane on the ground. The buzzing in my ears settled to a steady high-pitched whine. Everyone looked to Rick.

Rick turned slowly to Jenner.

"I think you're lying."

"What?" Asked Jenner.

"You could have opted out. Jenny's right isn't she? TS-19 was family? You stayed. Why?"

Jenner looked guilty. "I made a promise. To her." He pointed at the screen. "You're right. She was my wife."

The clang of the ax on metal rang out as Daryl and T-Dog started up again at the door.

"And she would want you to do this? She would want you to kill children, kill entire families?" Rick supplicated. Jenner stayed silent, his eyes scanning across us all. Carol and Sophia curled up wailing on the floor, Momma's watery eyes staring at me as she clutched at them both. Lori clung Carl to her chest. Dale stood lost behind Andrea.

"I told you topside's locked down. I can't open those doors." Jenner finally let out. With a flash his hand flew to the miraculously undamaged security pad next to the mess Shane made with the shotgun.

The door opened.

Immediately the clanging axes ceased.

"Come on!" Daryl cried, ushering everyone out the door. I rushed to Momma and the others, bending down to help haul Carol to her feet as Momma grabbed Sophia.

"Let's go!" Glenn needlessly urged us on. Without looking back I wrapped one hand around Momma's upper arm and fastened the other hard around the shotgun and started hauling ass towards the upper levels.

"Dale, where's Dale?" Momma asked, looking behind us.

"He's coming, come on!" I shouted impatiently at her.

"Four minutes!" Glenn imparted.

"Something's wrong!" Momma struggled against my hold on her. I turned my head to look at what she saw. Dale, Andrea, and Jaqui were huddled on the floor next to Jenner.

"I'm sure it's fine! Come on Momma!" I pulled harder, forcing her forward a few more steps. Carol and Sophie had already continued on. Glenn was watching helplessly. Dale turned his head to see Rick, Daryl and us watching from the ramp.

"Just go!" Dale waved us on.

"We're not leaving them!" Momma had become frantic. "Dale!" She bellowed.

"I'll be right there, Marie! Go!" Dale countered.

"Momma!" I grabbed her face in my hands.

"Three minutes!" Glenn screamed.

"Momma! You'll kill us saving them! Put your mask on!" My eyes connected with hers. She slowly nodded, understanding coming back to her. My hand once more latched firmly on her arm and I all but dragged her behind me. My feet pounded the floor as I lurched after Glenn, Momma's ragged breathing heavy in my buzzing ears. Up the emergency stairs we climbed, Glenn running with the shotgun Rick had thrust at me.

We reached the top level to see sun streaming through the windows as T-Dog and Daryl desperately worked to get the doors open. Glenn took to bashing the stock of the gun against the glass and Momma rushed to stand with Carol and Sophia. I ran up to T-Dog and threw my weight in to pulling against the handle with him.

"It's not working!" Glenn wailed.

"Daryl!" A call from Shane behind us was all the warning we got before an ax hurtled through the air towards Daryl. He and Shane swung at the door and lurched backwards as the ax heads rebounded back at them without doing any damage. They continued on, swinging and swinging, hoping to chip away at the safety glass.

T-Dog and I reached for chairs and started attacking the door in between their ax strokes.

Nothing was happening.

"Get down! Get down!" Shane roared, aiming the shotgun he pulled from Glenn. _BANG._ He racked it again. _BANG._

Nothing. The buckshot sat embedded in the glass, mocking us. We took up chairs and axes once more and started flailing at the hopefully weakened areas.

"Rick!" Cried Carol from somewhere in the back. Rick and Shane left the door and rushed to her side. The rest of us focused our attention back on abusing the door. We developed a rhythm. Axes, then chairs, then axes, the glass bounced. I couldn't tell if I'm getting winded or starting to hyperventilate. This is unfair. This is just goddamned unfair.

"Look out!" Someone yanked me back as I prepared to swing. I'm shoved to the floor behind a half wall. Lifting my head I saw Momma in front of me, her hands over her ears. A heavy hand pressed down on my back, keeping me from pulling upright. I parroted Momma and covered my ears, not quite sure what was happening.

 _BOOM_

The pressure wave hit, followed quickly by a rush of heat. Was this the end? Was this the H.I.T.s? The hand on my back moved to my arm and hauled me upright. My eyes immediately found the hole in the glass made by the blast. I grabbed Momma and pushed her to the opening. Daryl and Glenn were at the exit, they held Momma's hands as she climbed through.

Corpses were everywhere. The grenade must have drawn them in. Shane and Rick begin firing. Daryl and T-Dog swung the axes we had been using on the door. I had a firm grasp of Momma and I hauled her towards the Volvo, sidestepping the living dead as they reached rotting hands towards us.

I saw the lights on the RV. Someone had made it to the driver's seat. My hand landed on the handle of the Volvo and I yanked at the door. Locked.

"Shit!" I shrieked. "Glenn! Momma! Keys!"

"They're not here!" Glenn shouted back. Desperate I pulled up a leg and beat at the window with my foot. One, two, three heavy kicks before it busted inwards. I reached a hand through and popped the locks.

"Get in! Get down!" I gave Momma a shove into the passenger seat as Glenn launched himself into the back. I lay down next to Momma and together we covered our heads with our arms.

 _WOOSH BOOM_

The heat washed over us like a freight train. The concussion of the explosions rocked the car as vehicles close to the CDC shattered and erupted in flames. All the windows blew out of the car as the pressure wave passed.

And then it was done.

Momma and I lifted our heads, glass bits and ash rained from our hair as we looked out at the scene.

"Holy shit." Glenn whispered. Smoke curled from the vast hole in the ground where the CDC once stood. Corpses that had been ambling in the vicinity of the cars lay broken on the ground, the pressure wave having knocked them down, arms still reaching out towards would be meals.

"We…" I panted, swallowed, and fought to catch my breath. " We have to get our stuff into other cars." I looked at Momma and Glenn, they both nodded in agreement at me.

We climbed out of the car slowly, keeping our backs to the vehicle to keep an eye out for corpses. My rifles had been left in the CDC. There was a knife in my pack in the trunk, but until I reached it I felt naked in the open. We edged around the Volvo to the hatch. Glenn opened it quickly and we grabbed what we could in our arms. Our packs, a couple milk crates of food, just the essentials really. In a fog I looked around, trying to decide where to head.

The decision was made for us as Carol's Cherokee and Daryl's old truck reversed towards us. We stood quiet, our arms loaded with stuff as Daryl pulled up and rolled down the window.

"Toss yer stuff in the back." He said motioning to the bed of the truck. I heaved the milk crate in my hands up into the bed and then lurched my pack in before reaching to help Momma.

"Carol's got room for one o'ye and I can take two."

"You stay with your Mom." Glenn said while squeezing my shoulder before he headed to get in the backseat next to Sophia. I found myself climbing up in the truck and offering Momma a hand, pulling her up to sit beside me. She shut the door quickly and settled back, leaning her head against the seat with a sigh. I squirmed trying to get comfortable in the middle of the bench seat pressed between Daryl and Momma.

"Dale and Andrea are up in the RV." Daryl stated quietly as he put the truck in drive and slowly followed the caravan.

"I knew they'd be fine." Momma countered, her eyes closing and a soft smile stretching her lips.

* * *

A/N An extra long one to make up for being 24 hours late! Hope you all had a great week. Thanks to AeslinnArt for the review and the many of you that hit follow and favorite! Also kudos to Indianageorge for catching the Kip Moore references. That man's voice does things to me. And for some reason all his songs make me think of Daryl! I'm not above begging for reviews, so please if you love it (or hate it!) let me know! Have a great week!


	6. Dirt Road

_Put on your mask._ I remember the first time Momma said it to me. It was after Daddy had the stroke, I think I was around 25 then. My brother Jack was doing his best to cope -that usually entailed two day long benders and needing to be picked up from the jail house – and my sister Josie was finishing up her last year at college. I had put my PhD on hold to move back to Georgia and be with Momma, help take care of the farm.

It was after a long day of driving back and forth to the hospital and taking care of the cows –beef not dairy – and I was trying to get ready to go out with some friends. There had been so much to do; I was worrying about it constantly, feeling things starting to slip beyond my control. A cow and calf had died that morning because I had missed the parturition. At least I was convinced it was because I had missed it.

Looking back now I realized the dystocia was severe enough that nothing could have been done had I been there. Hindsight is always 20/20.

Momma had found me sitting on the floor of the shower in tears exhausted and insisting I just needed to check on the cows one more time before I left.

"It's ok to delegate, baby girl." She had said as she put my robe around me and hauled me up off the shower floor.

"I need to check 'em, it's gotta be me." I insisted while moving to sit on the bed.

"I've been on this farm thirty five years. I think I can handle some cows. You gotta take care of yourself. You're doing too much."

"It's fine. You and Daddy need me." I said looking at her earnestly.

"Well you're no good to us like this, Jenny." She brushed the hair from my face. "Remember when we went to Disney and you spent the whole airplane ride reading the safety card so you could save everyone in 'the event of an emergency'?" Her hands rested on my shoulders as she bent down in front of me.

"Yes." I smiled at the memory. I liked having plans. Always have.

"Well you gotta put your mask on first, babygirl. Before you start helping others. You're running out of air going on like this." _You're running out of air._ This entire life post the collapse felt like I was suffocating.

 _Put your mask on._

It became our mantra whenever things fell apart after that.

I let her check the cows that night, and made a better effort during that time to feel okay with taking for time for myself. It was hard then. It still is.

* * *

I couldn't be certain how long we had been driving. The display on the old tape deck in the truck was cracked and non-functional and seeing as how I didn't wear a watch before the world ended, I certainly wasn't wearing one now. Best guess I had was about 2 hours.

I looked over at Momma. She had slipped into sleep almost immediately after Daryl started driving. The last couple months had seemed to etch the lines on her face deeper into her skin. Seventy, was she really seventy? It was easy to forget, watching her power forward next to me with a weapon in her hand and shoot down the living dead. But now, watching her sleep, her weathered face relaxed and peaceful, her hands with swollen knuckles fisted in her sweatshirt, she looked seventy.

How long could I keep her alive in this world? Without modern medicine? Without steady shelter and food? When everything and most everyone seemed out to kill you?

The noise of the window rolling down had me turning to eye Daryl. He had a cigarette in his mouth, his hands were holding a lighter and shielding the flame from the window, his knees pressed on the steering wheel, keeping it steady. He must have noticed my movement as he glanced at me then offered me the open pack from the dashboard.

"Want one?"

I bit my lip and looked over at Momma.

"Promise I won't tattle on you if she wakes up." He smirked.

I sighed and rolled my eyes. With one hand I reached for the pack and with the other I plucked the lighter out of his hand.

"Don't be ashin' in my truck now." He added.

"What would Momma say if she knew you were teaching her daughter to smoke? Don't think she'll be letting me hang out round you no more Mr. Dixon." I let that sweet Georgia twang ring through my words. He chuckled; a low gravelly sound that floated through the truck.

"Not worried, she likes me more than you anyway." I leaned across him and tapped my ash out his window, purposefully bumping his shoulder roughly. I let the silence stretch between us. Glenn was probably my best friend at this point, but God it felt like he never stopped talking some times. Wasn't the type to believe in "comfortable silences". It felt good to just quietly enjoy having company with Daryl. We sat there staring at the car in front of us as we rolled along.

"Think there will be anything there? Fort Benning?" I let my worry bubble out after reaching across Daryl once more to toss my cigarette out the window. Momma still dozed softly next to me, her head now starting to lean on my shoulder. My other shoulder pressed up against Daryl as we all tried to get comfortable on the bench seat.

"Dunno. Don't really care I guess. It'll shut Shane up either way."

"They bombed the city, killed everyone left there – the military, the government, whatever. Not sure I want to be banking on them right now."

"So you won't stay if it's intact?" He mused.

I looked down at Momma, now completely leaning on my shoulder.

"Guess I'll do what we have to. Whatever makes the most sense once we get there."

"Merle didn't trust them neither. Hasn't since he got his discharge."

I recognized the pain and hope tied together in his voice. I picked at the frayed holes in the knees of my jeans.

"He knew Shane wanted to go. Momma always knew Merle was smarter than everyone thought. I bet he's headed that way, probably thinking we would eventually too."

"Hmmm." He hummed, chewing on his thumbnail.

The rumble of the truck engine and sway of the chassis turned to white noise as the events of the day caught up to my body. I leaned my head back and let my eyes half close. I couldn't sleep - wouldn't sleep. My body ached relentlessly and the worry of what the near future held kept my brain just alert enough that I couldn't settle.

"Thank you." I said after a bit.

"Fer what?" His eyes shifted from the road to mine for a brief moment. He went right back to chewing the rest of his nails once the words left his mouth.

"Picking up Momma and me at the CDC, watching out for Momma in general back at the camp…"

"I weren't…" He started to speak over me.

"Shut up and let her get it out, boy" Momma groused from my shoulder. I hushed up, embarrassed at Momma hearing me. I looked at Daryl and watched his face sour, both hands now on the wheel.

"Dammit woman, go back to sleep." He griped.

"Don't you be talking to Momma like that!" I slapped him on the arm.

"You were better off just letting her thank you Daryl. " Momma added.

Daryl heaved a sigh then ground out a low and quiet "yer welcome", barely audible over the sound of the truck driving along.

"Good boy." Momma said primly, snuggling back into my shoulder to finish out her nap.

The truck pushed on down the road, the gravel on the running boards playing a washboard tune as the caravan rambled on.

* * *

We drove until dark. At some point I had switched off with Daryl so he could grab some sleep in the passenger seat while Momma took a turn in the middle. He and Shane took watch that night on top of the RV while we all slept in the cars.

In the morning we agreed to ditch some of the vehicles to help conserve gas. The truck was now gone. Daryl led the pack on Merle's old motorcycle while Momma and I joined several others in the RV. I spent the morning in the back with Glenn pouring over maps and brainstorming where we could go next if Fort Benning didn't pan out. The RV, still captained by Dale, was currently crawling through the wreckage on the highway.

"There's always the coast." I suggested.

"True." Glenn answered. "Jekyll Island, or maybe even Cumberland. Where did you say your farm was again?"

"Outside Senoia." I pointed to the dot on the map. "Nothing too exciting out there. You could set up a farm type community but you'd struggle to scavenge anything initially." I looked towards the front of the RV where Momma sat keeping Dale company while he drove.

"We need something with walls." I continued. "Something for people to be safe in if they can't fight."

"Some of those 55+ communities have gates and stuff." He pointed to something just outside Atlanta. "My nana moved to one over this way I think."

"Good thought." I nodded. "Might want to find one a little further out from the city. A lot of those places have buses, gas stops, and stores and stuff. It'd be good to check out if we come –" The RV lurched to a stop suddenly. Glen and I eyed each other then moved cautiously up towards the front of the vehicle.

Shane and Andrea were standing up from the dinette as we moved. Dale swiveled in his seat, swearing under his breath, and faced us.

"It's the damn radiator hose again." He gestured aggressively through the windshield to the steam billowing out the front. Momma stayed seated in her seat watching it swirl and float upwards. Everyone lumbered out of the RV while I waited for Momma.

"You doing ok, Momma?"

"Hmm?" She turned and looked at me. "Oh, yeah, sorry, just feeling tired still. These old bones aren't made for sleeping in cars." Through the windshield I could see Daryl doubling back to the RV on the bike while everyone else piled out of the station wagon and Dale stood waving his arms at the hood.

"Well I'll stay in here with you if you'd like. Doesn't look like they need us for anything out there. Why don't you shut your eyes for a few?"

"Yeah, alright." She sighed, using the lever on the seat to tilt it back. She didn't like being tired or, God forbid, feeling her age. I sat in the driver's seat next to her for a few minutes while she dozed before seeing Glenn gesture to me through the windshield. Carefully so as not to wake her up, I edged out of the driver's seat and met Glenn just outside the door.

"What's happening?" I asked him.

"We're going to go scavenge the cars. Dale and Andrea are going to stay with the RV. Wanna help me find a hose?"

I looked back at RV door. I wasn't too keen on leaving Momma.

"Dale said he knows she's in there. Said he'll keep an ear out for her."

I looked back at Glenn. "Yeah, okay. But I don't have a gun or anything." I had left them all in the CDC. Glenn smiled and held out a police issued Beretta.

"Rick said you could have it."

"Did you plan this?"

"The radiator? Nah. But I figured every girl loves shopping!" He grinned. I couldn't help but return the smile. Off we went into the mess of cars.

We took our time pulling up hoods and poking at hoses. There weren't many large vehicles in the jumbled mess on the highway. A water truck, a construction van. We wandered trying to find something that would work with the RV. Occasionally I would look up and notice Daryl, T-Dog, Carol, and Lori moving around as well, then go back to chatting aimlessly with Glenn.

There were bodies everywhere. Barely a car in the pile was empty of at least one. Many of them were moving. We did our best to stay quiet, not wanting to disturb anything "sleeping" nearby.

"Ha!" Glenn exclaimed (albeit quietly), pulling an intact hose from a delivery van. He held it towards me like a prize.

"Woo!" I cheered (quietly as well, with a fist pump for good measure) and together we started heading back to the RV, prize in hand.

"Ooh, check it out!" I pointed to a station wagon filled to the brim with camping equipment. It was empty of corpses, ripe for the picking. "Go on ahead, I'm gonna go through this."

"You sure?" Glenn asked.

I took a moment to look around. Everyone else was still picking their way through cars. I looked back down through the window, noticing right away the 6 person tent, kangaroo kitchen, and freeze dried meals in the trunk.

"Yeah, totally. If you're lucky I'll grab you that raspberry cobbler." I pointed to the meal sitting on top of the rest.

"Oh my god, yes, please." Glenn slapped me on the shoulder then jogged away.

I took my time opening the hatch of the station wagon. Everything was piled so tightly it seemed it would burst out. I grabbed the over stuffed backpack on the top, not even bothering to unpack it and check what was inside. Whatever was in there seemed clean and new. I swung it on my back then tucked the Beretta in my waistband. I reached in the trunk with both hands to grab the box of meals, leaning forward and stretching to get the last couple that had fallen out. Didn't want to disappoint Glenn and leave that cobbler behind! I crawled up on my knees to grab the cobbler, feeling the pack on my back brush the roof of the car.

"Jenny!" A harsh voice whispered loudly to my right. My head turned to see Daryl stooped low and rushing towards me from a few cars over. He was waving his hands and mouthing something I couldn't make out. I moved the last inch to grab the packet before working to shimmy my way back. The pack stuck against the lip of the roof and I struggled to push myself back. Something yanked on the pack. I spun quickly expecting a rotting hand to be reaching out. Daryl stood there instead, a fierce look on his face.

"Get down." He pointed to several corpses headed our way. "Get under the car and don't say a word. There's too many to fight." He pulled the pack off of me, pulled the Beretta from my waist and shoved it in my hand, then started pushing me down.

"Momma." I said. "Momma's in the camper." I resisted against him, attempting to move to her.

"She'll be fine. Get down. Stay quiet." He pressed hard on my shoulder now. I wasn't small, but he was larger and much stronger than me. I felt my knees buckle a little and let him push me the rest of the way to the asphalt. My left hand gripped the Beretta hard and I shimmied under the Subaru. Daryl moved away quickly towards what looked to be T-Dog stooped beside a car.

My breathing hitched. It was a tight fit under there. I felt restricted, nearly trapped. If something came for me there wouldn't be much I could do. Looking around I saw Carol and Lori under another car. Their feet pointed in my direction. Momma. Momma would be fine. She was inside the RV with Andrea and Dale.

Seconds passed, then minutes. In front of me Carol made a motion to get out from under the car but Lori had grabbed the waist of her pants. What was happening out there?

The sound of panicked voices and seeing Carol wrestle away from Lori had me moving hurriedly from my spot. Carol was running towards the guardrail. I went to follow but a single clear gunshot from the RV stole my attention.

Momma! I ran straight for the RV door. Every step I took the door seemed to move farther away. Dale was scrambling off the roof of the vehicle. Where was Andrea? Something brushed my ankle and I looked down to see a corpse's fingers tangled in my boot laces. I raised the Beretta in my hand and fired point blank. The ringing in my ears flared as its skull exploded into a shower of red bits against my leg.

My feet pounded one after the other as I got to the RV. I reached for the door handle while at the same time Andrea came stumbling out, blood splattered on her face.

"Momma?" I called trying to see into the vehicle, not bothering to hide my panic.

"I'm ok!" She responded, stumbling out behind Andrea, a dazed look on her face.

"Who's firing their gun?!" Shane demanded as he barged into the group. "Don't fire no more! You'll draw them all back!" He must have noticed the Beretta in my hand and rounded on me, pointing his finger in my face. All I could do was glare back at him. He was right, but he didn't have to be an asshole about it.

"Lay off, Shane." Glenn defended, "obviously we didn't have a choice." Shane grunted in response.

I turned back to Momma and patted her down.

"You scratched?" I asked. "Anything hurt?" She pushed me away, only then did I notice the handgun clutched in her fingers, and started fussing right back at me. I looked around and saw Daryl struggling our way half carrying and half dragging T-Dog. T looked horrible, pallid and holding a bloody arm against his chest. I moved to help but was distracted suddenly by Carol and Lori running full tilt at us.

"Rick!" Carol cried. "Anybody seen Rick?!" She was frantic, hysterical even.

"He followed Sophia into the woods." Lori added, clutching Carl to her body. "Two walkers were after them." Something moved in the bushes behind the guardrail next to them. I raised my gun and moved forward, fully expecting a corpse to lurch out.

Instead Rick stumbled from the brush, arms pin wheeling to land on the guardrail as he stopped himself to catch his breathe. Panting he waved off a concerned Lori and regarded the group as a whole.

"Sophia. Sophia – did she…has she" He paused to breath and looked around at us all. "She make it back?"

We all stared at him blankly while Carol collapsed to the ground in a sobbing heap.

* * *

A/N: Getting closer to the farm! This one's a little slow but I love thinking about the interaction of Jenny, Daryl, and Momma crammed in that truck. Also apologies for any poor grammar/spelling, I didn't really run this through the spellcheck too well because it's very late and I wanted to make sure you got a chapter this week. Jenny and Daryl's relationship will pick up once we're settled somewhere safe. Something I always have to remind myself is all of season 1 takes course over like 10 days or something like that. So slowly but surely we're getting there! Of course I have to say thank you to ThreeDarkAngels, music-angel-25, RedRed19, and AeslinnArt for the reviews! Seriously y'all make my day when I see that notification in my email. Also huge thank you to everyone that's added this to their follow and favorite list. Make sure to keep leaving reviews if you love or hate the direction it's going. Hope you all have a lovely week! Xoxo He'sGotHeart


	7. Hey Pretty Girl

I stood perched on the roof of the old Winnebago, Dale's rifle resting on my shoulder, trying to see out into the night. It was dark; the heavy kind of dark that pressed in on you.

It felt like weeks since Sophia had run off. In reality it was barely 36 hours. We had searched the entire afternoon and well into the night before giving up to get some sleep. We spent the entirety of the new day calling and searching, hoping and praying.

Sophia was still gone. Andrea had come screaming back from their search area with the others saying Carl was shot and Shane, Rick, and Lori (herself having gallivanted off on horseback with a strange woman no less) were all at a farm tending to him with a doctor. After that all hell broke loose. Momma had insisted Dale drive her up there in the station wagon while the rest of us waited until the morning in case Sophia showed up.

I didn't like it. Glenn and Andrea had all but needed to hold me back as they drove off. _Rash. Impulsive_. _Reckless._ All the things I hated, Momma had single handedly accomplished in 5 minutes. I liked plans. And schedules. And all that shit that no longer existed in this world. I could go with the flow, as long as the flow had a distinct route on a map. Anxiety skulked around my chest, clutching at my ribs and my heart, constricting my breath and clogging my brain.

What if the herd was on the road to the farm? Was Dale handy with the pistol we sent him with? What if the station wagon broke down? How would they signal us? What if Momma got sick, or hurt? What if the car crashed?

Andrea said it was only 2 miles but in a world with no phones and limited radios it felt like an ocean.

I was pacing now, back and forth between the ends of the RV, my feet a gentle tap on metal roof. A noise to the back had me spinning and raising the gun to eye level. I rushed to the back near the ladder and looked down. Daryl was there, already halfway up the ladder and moving quickly, hand over foot. I stepped back and let him climb the rest of the way up.

"Is it midnight already?" I asked, reaching for the watch attached to the lawn chair.

"Nah, only ten." He stood there watching me like he was looking for something, his crossbow slung over his shoulder.

"Oh." I said. "Did you need something?"

"Glen sent me up, said your tap dancing was keeping everyone inside awake. Andrea won't stop bitching about it."

"Oh."

"Want me to take over?"

I worried my lip with my teeth and looked out into the night. "I don't think I can stand being in there with everyone right now." I looked back at him.

He nodded, and offered me a cigarette. I took it without hesitation.

"You should sit down," he gestured to the chair, "ya look like shit." I didn't fight him, or take offense. I knew he was probably right. I hand been running my hands through my hair non-stop, and the pacing had me sweating in the late night humidity. Fall would be here soon, but summer certainly wasn't leaving without a fight.

I sat and smoked and rested my forehead in the palms of my hands.

"Other than looking for Merle, I haven't been separated from her since this started." I peeked at him through my hands. He was looking out, keeping watch, doing the job I clearly wasn't up for right now.

"I know." He said quietly.

I paused. The next words were stuck in my throat and a cannonball was lodged in my chest.

"She's sick." I finally blurted out. The true cause of my deepest worries leaking out. I looked up at him again, waiting for his response.

Daryl turned back to me.

"I know." he said.

"…you know?" I wasn't sure at all how to process this. We purposely hadn't told anyone. Momma didn't want people to treat her like an invalid grandmother and I didn't want people thinking we were a weak link.

"Yeah. She told me when she was helping detox Merle." He was looking back out. He was always so matter of fact, just reporting the truth, nothing more, nothing less.

Bone cancer. Aggressive. The diagnosis had come about 3 months before the world fell apart. The only reason I was in Georgia to begin with was to take her to the doctor in Atlanta to see how the progression was.

Six months. That day the doctor had told us it was moving steadily and with chemo we could give her a year, without….six months. That day was nearly two months ago! She'd done chemo ten years before for the breast cancer. She wasn't ever going to do it again, especially if it wasn't going to cure her.

She had lost significant bone density, and the tumors were making her skeleton particularly fragile. Now she was alone out there (admittedly not really alone) and something as trivial as tripping could break her ankle and be enough to bring her down.

I puffed the cigarette in my hand, not realizing the cherry ember had gone out. A fresh one appeared in front of my face, I looked up to see Daryl squatting down in front of me and holding it out.

"She'll be fine. She's a tough lady. She'd be pissed yer doubtin' her."

"I know. It's just," I looked around for the words. "She's all I have left you know? And …" I sighed. "…you wouldn't get it…" I drifted off.

He was standing up and facing away from me now. Something in my slow turning brain clicked.

I'm a grade A Asshole sometimes.

"Merle." I said. "Sorry, fuck, I'm a bitch." I stood and walked to stand up next to him.

"He ain't my momma." Daryl shrugged, trying to sound nonchalant.

"No, but he's family. It's only been a week, I'm sure he's still out there."

Daryl's head bobbed in agreement. Then, slowly he turned to me, his heavy hand coming up to rest on my shoulder. He squeezed.

"We're all family now." He said, before hastily dropping his hand. I wanted to hug him. I wanted to cry a little. I knew either would make him uncomfortable.

"Glenn told me he always wanted a brother." I joked. Deflection. My therapist told me I often chose humor to deflect when I got uncomfortable with emotion. She seemed to say it like it's a bad thing.

Daryl groaned and stepped back. "Yeah well sounds better than having Dale for a step dad."

"Please don't go there!" I shrieked, putting my hands over my ears. I giggled, actually giggled, though admittedly it probably sounded borderline hysterical, and sat my butt back in the chair.

Daryl just watched me with a huge shit-eating grin on his face. "Dale and Momma sittin' in a tree…" He started.

"LALALA" I sang, sticking my fingers in my ears like a child.

"Shut up, up there!" Andrea hollered through the vent.

I buried my face in my lap, feeling my shoulders shake with laughter. After a moment I looked up to see Daryl watching me with eyebrows raised.

"Better hush up or teacher will yell at us again." Daryl quipped quietly. I smiled widely and chucked an empty water bottle at him only to watch him dodge it effortlessly.

I spent the rest of the night shooting the shit with Daryl instead of pretending to sleep down below. A hand still worked to squeeze the air from my lungs, but sitting up there with Daryl I thought I felt it release just a bit.

* * *

T-Dog was hurt bad. We had been waiting as long as we could to head to the farm. We didn't want Carol to think we were giving up but T-Dog was going to die from infection if we didn't get him to that doctor. The antibiotics Daryl had given him would only do so much unless we got the wound cleaned properly.

Momma and Dale had taken our only other car which meant we either all piled into the RV and left or someone stayed behind to search for Sophia and walked to the farm later.

Daryl and Andrea had left at dawn for one last search before we headed out.

When they came back we used some old paint to leave a message on a windshield:

"SOPHIA STAY HERE WE WILL COME EVERYDAY"

A pile of water, peanut butter, and other canned goods were the only other things we could offer.

I was sitting in the back of the RV with Glenn and T-Dog as the vehicle rumbled along. Carol was up towards the front with Andrea driving. Daryl led the way on the motorcycle. I couldn't look at Carol and Andrea. Carol kept trying to subtly wipe silent tears from the corners of her eyes. Andrea was rigid with anxiety. It was too much for me to focus on with T-Dog about to faint in Glenn's lap.

"Just ten more minutes, T." Glenn said. T groaned as I wiped the wound with some clean water and iodine before wrapping it once more in the only bit of sterile gauze we had left in the first aid kit. I think it needed to be stitched, but I didn't have the skills for that.

The color seemed to drain from T's face as the RV swerved.

"Roll him, he's gonna puke!" I cried and leaned to grab a bucket. Glenn used the momentum of the RV turning to roll T-Dog on his side as I shoved the bucket in his face just in the nick of time.

Glenn grimaced and gagged as the smell of T's vomit wafted upward.

"Pull it together, Ree!" I ground out, working hard not to gag myself. "It's ok T." I used my free hand to rub his back. The RV ground to a halt. As the motion stopped, Glen and I stood up, each with one of T-Dog's arms slung over our shoulders.

"Fuck T, what you been eating?" I heaved out, earning a huffing laugh from him as we shuffled and half dragged him out the RV door.

Before us stood a large and aging farmhouse with a porch wrapping around the front door. Momma, thank God, stood waving on the porch with a big old southern welcome smile on her face. My heart sang upon seeing her standing there. Seeming to notice T's condition she came bounding down the steps to us.

"Carl's pulling through. What happened to you T?" She asked with alarm. We kept pulling him along as Momma slowly unwound the gauze on his arm.

"Lost a fight with some scrap metal, Missus Lingle." T breathed out.

Momma clucked her tongue in disapproval as she saw the wound.

"Get him inside, we got good supplies here to fix him up with." Glenn and I kept dragging. As we got to the door a young woman greeted us, maybe about Glenn's age, with short brown hair. Glenn and I were both panting as sweat from the exertion of helping T-Dog ran down our faces.

"Go ahead and set him down here." She gestured to the kitchen. "I'm Maggie Greene!" She called over her shoulder as she rummaged through the cabinets.

We not so gently thumped T down in a chair with an "Oof" from all sides.

"Jenny Lingle." I responded, struggling for breath and standing back as Maggie moved to work with Momma.

"My daughter, Maggie." Momma noted.

"Nice to meet you Jenny! Your Momma was priceless in helping us with Carl. She's been telling me all about your research farm!"

"Oh. Um, glad to hear it." I responded awkwardly, doing my best to stay out of the way. I turned to Glenn. He was staring. _Staring._ Maggie had paused and was looking back at him curiously. I elbowed him in the ribs. Hard.

"Glenn. Sorry, Glenn Ree." He held his hand out to shake. Maggie gestured to her hands full of first aid supplies and smiled graciously at him.

"Nice to meet you Glenn. You two are welcome to sit yourself on the porch! We can take it from here." She turned her back to us, a polite but clear dismissal.

"I'll see you out there when we're done with T, baby girl." Momma called over her shoulder. I looked to Glenn who shrugged. We both turned and made our way back to the front door.

Once on the porch I knocked his shoulder.

"Could you be anymore obvious?" I said.

"What?" He came out of his daze.

"First time seeing a pretty girl?" I teased.

"Shut up!" He looked back behind him. "Keep your voice down. Was I really that obvious?"

"Oh my gawd, Glenn." I rolled my eyes and turned to look out over the farm. "T's on his death bed and you're ogling the farmer's daughter."

"Think she's got a boyfriend or something?" He asked distractedly, leaning backwards against the porch railing. I looked at him next to me.

"Want me to ask her if she 'like likes' you?" I responded loudly.

"Keep it down!" He whispered harshly. I laughed loudly, reveling in the moment of utter and total normalcy. Glen laughed along with me.

Suddenly I felt him go quiet and stiffen next to me.

"Rick." I heard him say as I turned to face the front door.

Rick stood there, still in his uniform and hat. He looked half dead. Fear and grief seemed to have aged him ten years overnight.

"Rick." I parroted, standing up straight next to Glenn. "How's Carl?"

Rick walked out and joined us on the railing.

"He's okay." He said in his low, quiet voice. "He had surgery this morning, just woke up. Lori's with him now."

I put a hand on Rick's shoulder.

"How are you doing?" I asked. Glenn was watching, concern clear in his eyes.

"I'm…I'm ok. Tired but ok. Your Momma, Jenny –" He paused and gripped my shoulder hard, choking back an exhausted sob. "I don't think I can explain to you the gratitude I felt seeing her pull up with Dale yesterday. Hershel – the doctor – well, he's good but having your Momma here." He trailed off and pulled me into a hug.

"I know, Rick." I said, squeezing him back tightly. "You don't gotta say nothing else." He let go and stepped back, casually wiping tears from his eyes.

"It feels good to have the rest of you here too." He said to Glenn. "Feels good to have the whole family together."

Family. Daryl had said it last night. There was no escaping it; it's what we all were now.

Rick put a hand on each of our shoulders and looked between Glenn and I.

"Y'all should head over to the RV. I sent Dale to help them set up a good spot to park it. Hershel said we're welcome to stay as long as Carl needs." With that he stepped back and drifted back into the house.

I tuned back and gripped the railing hard while looking out at the RV in the far corner of the farm and just breathed for a moment, watching everyone get settled under the trees.

"Shall we?" Glenn asked.

"Let's go." I said, and together we walked back to the group.

* * *

A/N We made it to the farm! SO sorry for missing last week. I was really sick and unfortunately as many of you know if you're an adult that works full time you gotta make sure your real life work is done before FFN work gets done. But I hope this makes up for it. And my goal this week is to get TWO chapters up as an apology.

As usual, reviews and criticism or even just a "hey I love this" or "hey this is something perfectly adequate/just enough above boring to keep me interested" helps keep me motivated (especially when I'm drinking tea and blowing my nose in between each sentence). A HUGE thank you to the many of you that added this to your follows and faovorites list and shout out to AeslinnArt for the review.

Have a wonderful week!


	8. Plead the Fifth

You can't help but see everything while you're on watch. And I mean everything. I was on top of the RV, looking out over the dark pasture of the Greene's farm.

I watched Daryl eating dinner with Carol, watched him try to ease her hurt in his own silent way. He had found a farmhouse today that looked like some place Sophia had spent the night.

I watched Glenn wander off behind the chicken coop with Maggie, he had been acting extra awkward since returning from a run to the pharmacy today, something weird clearly happened that I would have to pry out of him later.

I watched Lori and Rick pace up and down the farmer's porch, fretting over Carl, and quite possibly arguing.

I had watched Dale and Momma, holding hands, "sneak" into the very RV I was sitting on (my brain refused to continue paying attention to them).

All these things, arguably helpful in easing the boredom of watch duty, and all I could focus on was Shane.

Shane sat alone, at the edge of the campfire, shadowed by the tents we had set up, immobile for the past two hours.

Glenn had thought Shane's recent withdrawal from the group was because of Rick. We had seen Shane and Lori wandering into the woods weeks ago, alone on multiple occasions. We weren't stupid, we knew what they were doing. You see everything on watch.

But this was different, this was something darker. He had lost a man on the run yesterday, a man we held a service for this morning, a man the Greene's were currently grieving.

Yet, here sat Shane, alone, not seeking out Rick, or Lori, or Dale (who for some reason had become our tribal Shaman, guiding us in our times of need).

I wasn't going to be the one to say it. There had been a tipping point, maybe at some time around the CDC shitstorm, that Shane changed. It felt less that he was ensuring our survival, and more that he was ensuring his.

I didn't know Otis. I never met him. I do know that Shane's story of what happened on that run smelled like the biggest load of shit I have ever seen.

I stood, leaning on Dale's rifle (the only firearm we could have on the property apparently) staring down at Shane's newly shorn, bowed, head.

Suddenly, his head snapped up, as if he could feel me watching him, our eyes met, and I just stared right on back. Neither of us moved. The trick with dealing with a predator is not to run.

A noise at the back of the RV startled me. I turned my head slowly, and spotted Glenn coming up the ladder.

I turned back to Shane. He was gone.

"Whatcha looking at?" Glenn said behind me.

"Hmmm?" I said turning back to him. "Just thought I saw something." Glenn had dumped himself unceremoniously into Dale's beach chair.

"What do you think of Maggie?" Glenn started, not even taking a breath.

"Um...she's nice enough, I guess. I haven't really gotten to spend any time with her. Why, was she weird on your run today?" I glanced at him before turning back to my watch duty.

"Ummm…" He started drifting off nervously. Something was up.

"Spit it out cowboy, the roof vents are closed, no one inside will hear. It's just you and your best buddy Jenny." I walked closer to him and eased my butt onto the warm sheet metal.

"I might have …." He trailed into a mumble.

"I'm sorry, I missed that." I smiled sweetly at him, leaning a little closer.

"I kind of…." He looked around nervously again, then dropped into a whisper, "we did _it_ at the pharmacy." A huge, shit eating grin split his face.

I stared blankly at him then burst into a fit of giggles.

" _It_? You did _it_?" I whispered back, incredulous, still giggling softly. "With the farmer's daughter? Ain't there a country song about that?"

Glenn chuckled along with me.

"What do guys do?" I continued, "Am I supposed to slap you on the ass and congratulate you?" I grinned at him, raising my hand as if preparing for a celebratory spank.

"No, no!" He hoarsely shouted, raising his hands to protect himself, grinning all the same. "I just felt like I needed to tell a friend…it was kind of weird…good…but…. she was very….forward? I guess?"

"So, you're saying you won't be doing… _it_ …again?"

"I mean, don't get me wrong, I want to, like really really want to, but, I'm not like so sure maybe she wants to?"

"What, did she laugh at you or something when she saw you naked?" I asked while standing up and restarting my watch.

"No, no, obviously she would never do that. But… she did say it was a onetime thing and never happening again."

"So, you were her booty call." I smiled wryly.

"What? No! I'm not a booty call!"

"Sounds like a booty call to me."

"Ok, ok, how do I make it not a booty call?"

"Well," I started, "maybe get to know her a little? Especially since what, you met literally yesterday?"

"Yeah, you're right. I'll come up with something, can't exactly take her to dinner though." Glenn said. We let the silence sit for a bit.

"Hey, can I ask you something?" I said, turning back towards Glenn.

"Of course." Glenn replied, clearly noting my more serious tone.

I looked around again, reassuring myself no one was in range.

"That story Shane told, about Otis…do you, I mean to say…" I fumbled through the words as I paced near Glenn. "I think he's lying."

The silence covered us again. Glenn stayed seated behind me as I looked out onto the farm, leaning on the rifle once more.

"Me too." Glenn said.

* * *

Owning and working a farm gets you used to late nights and early mornings. Regardless of how exhausted I was in this new world, I found myself still waking up as soon as the morning light poked in through my tent.

No matter how badly I wanted to go back to sleep, I found my crusty eyelids peeling themselves apart on their own volition.

"Ugh." I groaned. I rolled over and looked at the empty bedroll next to me. Momma hadn't been in the tent when I settled in after my watch duty. That meant she had spent the night in the RV…with Dale… I sat up slowly at the realization that Momma had willingly spent the night without me for the first time since this all started (barring Carl being shot that is….and that night at the CDC).

"Ugh…." I groaned again, trying hard not to think about Momma and Dale.

I pulled on some semi washed clothes and peeled myself out of the tent. It didn't seem like anyone else in the group was up, except T-Dog who was on watch. I threw him a halfhearted wave and a smile.

I spent a short amount of time drinking some cold instant coffee and prepping for the day. I was on watch duty for a few hours after breakfast, but had some time before I needed to relieve T. With Momma still asleep (I refused to think of her doing anything but sleeping), I set off for a walk around the farm.

Not five minutes into my wandering I stumbled into Maggie, arms loaded with feed for the chickens.

"Morning! Need a hand?" I said. Momma was always telling me to try and makes friends.

"That'd be great." Maggie shuffled a few bags of feed and handed me two. "Jenny, right?"

"The one and only." I smiled at her. We walked somewhat lazily towards the chicken coop.

"Still on farmer's hours, huh?" She said. "I noticed you been up early since you guys got here."

"Can't seem to shake it." I shrugged. We reached the door of the coop and shuffled in together, one behind the other.

"You can set your bags inside those trash cans. Best way we have to keep the possums out of the feed."

I nodded and moved to the little feed storage area. After putting everything away, I grabbed a pitchfork and began cleaning out the bedding. Maggie moved to pick eggs from the laying boxes.

"Your Momma was telling me more about your farm. It got me to thinking, this fuel generator won't last forever. Do you think you might be interested in helping us to make the Greene farm…well…more green?"

I looked over my shoulder at her sticking eggs in her apron pockets.

"Oh, um… I mean, I'd love to but…" I looked back down at the work I was doing, getting into the rhythm of throwing the bedding against the shed walls and picking out the chicken manure. I glanced back at Maggie. "Honestly, I really would love to…"

"But…." Maggie prompted me. She was just leaning against the coop wall now, arms crossed in front of her. I finished my self-imposed duty and put the pitchfork back against the wall. Needing some way to fidget, I stooped down to pet some of the friendlier chickens. I looked back up at her, a little afraid what I was about to say next might offend her.

"I'm not…I wasn't under the impression we were invited to stay long term."

Maggie looked down and nodded.

"We have some things to work out among the family, but it's refreshing to have you all here. I'm doing what I can to make sure an invitation to stay gets extended to you all."

"Family can be hard." I said, not needing to say anything else on that subject. "If we get the invitation to stay, I'd be more than happy to help out."

"Thank you, Jenny, sincerely." She looked almost relived. She was clearly the one keeping the farm running, more so than her Daddy. She put her hand out and helped me stand back up.

"So," she started, "I was going to bring a county surveyor's map over to the group, so you can better plan to search for that little girl, join me?"

I nodded and we moved to leave the coop together.

A short while later found several of us clustered around Maggie's map. Momma and Dale still hadn't appeared, but I'd be damned if I went looking for them.

Glenn eyed me uneasily when I had approached with Maggie. Wouldn't hurt to have a little fun with him later about it. I wonder why Maggie's wants "an invitation for us all."

Next to Glenn stood Daryl, seemingly all kitted out for the day's search, Rick, and Shane, who looked as broody and unfriendly as ever.

Daryl caught my eye and gave a curt nod and what I assumed was supposed to be a smile but looked more like a grimace.

Rick quickly took up his lead position.

"Morning, guys." He nodded to us all. "All right, everyone's getting new search grids today. If she made it as far as the farmhouse Daryl found, she might have gone further east than we've been so far."

"I'd like to help." A new kid I hadn't seen before, hopefully someone associated with the Greene's spoke up.

"Hershel's okay with this?" Rick asked, apparently recognizing the teenage boy.

"He said I should ask you."

"All right then." Rick said, leaning over the map once more.

"Nothing about what Daryl found screams Sophia to me." Shane interjected. I stared at him hard. "Anyone could have been holed up in that farmhouse." Why was he making this harder than it needed to be? Weren't police officers all about the protect and serve? Daryl fumed next to him.

"Anybody includes her, right? Whoever slept in that cupboard was no bigger than yay-high." Daryl said, gesturing to his belly button.

"It's as a good a lead as any." I piped in, nodding to Daryl.

"I'm gonna borrow a horse, head up to this ridge right here, take a bird's eye view of the whole grid." Daryl jabbed his finger at a point on the map. "If she's up there, I'll spot her."

"Good idea," Rick said.

"Maybe you'll see your Chupacabra up there too!" T-dog hollered from on top of the RV.

"…Chupacabra?" Rick said, staring uncertainly at Daryl. I caught Daryl's eye and raised my brows questioningly.

"You never heard of this?" Like a pair of nursing home ninjas, Dale and Momma had silently appeared from within the RV, holding hands. Oh god, actually holding hands, did they have to be so brazen about it? "Our first night in camp," Dale continued. "Daryl tells us that the whole thing reminds him of a time when he went squirrel hunting and he saw a Chupacabra."

The gangly teenager burst out laughing. I covered my mouth with my hand, pretending to cough and failing at covering my own chuckle. Daryl's glare was so fierce I thought we might all burst into flames.

"What are you all braying at ya jackasses? You don't believe in a blood sucking dog? Do you believe dead people walking around?" Daryl fumed. With that he stormed off, I found my eyes trailing him all the way to the horse barn. I hadn't spoken with him in a couple days and found that after nearly a week of close contact with him I was missing our watch duty hang outs.

Rick finished delegating the search grid to the rest of the attendees, noticeably leaving me out of it.

"Where would you like me, Sheriff?" I said.

Rick looked at me a bit sheepishly.

"Everyone else that can shoot is headed out into the woods. I hate asking it of you, I know you're stuck with it a lot, but would you mind staying on watch for the day? I'd feel better knowing someone is here watching camp that can actually hit something with Dale's rifle."

I smiled tightly at him. Watch duty was getting old, fast. I needed something that might actually raise my heart rate above something other than "not quite dead".

"Sure thing, boss, on one condition." Rick looked at me and nodded. "I get the day off tomorrow?" Rick nodded, looking somewhat relieved I wasn't fighting him about my assignment.

"Done deal." He said. "Alright everyone, we'll regroup here around supper time and make a plan for tomorrow, if we don't find her today that is." With that dismissal the group dispersed. I watched Glenn follow Maggie back to the farmhouse, I had no idea what his plan was, but I gave it a 50/50 shot at success.

With the search groups all gone I turned to Momma.

"Good morning," I started, not sure if I was feeling riled up, happy for her, or, lord I don't even know what. "So nice of you to grace us with your presence." I could practically hear her own voice repeating those words to 16-year-old me.

"Good morning, baby girl." She came forward and grabbed my cheeks before lightly placing a kiss on my forehead and walking past me towards the tents. "Sorry for not calling you, see, my phone died, and don't you know it, everyone else's phone died too." I rolled my eyes behind her back.

"I'm sorry, we were - " Dale started. I spun and point a finger at him.

"I like you Dale. And I want to keep liking you, so I'll kindly ask you to not say whatever you're about to say." Dale grinned broadly, nodded, and went back into the RV.

Momma busied herself with coffee.

"You really gonna judge me?" Momma asked, taking a healthy sip from her mug. I sighed, feeling myself deflate a little bit, and dumped myself on the picnic table bench across from her.

"No, of course not." I mumbled. "I just like knowing where you are."

"Ah, well, this sure sounds familiar." She began munching on a granola bar. "You knew where I was."

"Stop, please. I just meant," I sighed and looked away.

"You just meant, that you feel our time is limited –"

"Stop." I interrupted her.

"Jenny." She reached out and gently held my hand on the table top.

"Momma." I looked away, suddenly feeling incredibly small and uncomfortable. It was her turn to sigh.

"You can't avoid it, baby girl." She gave my hand a squeeze. "I keep telling you to make friends, you're gonna need someone when I'm –" I stood up suddenly, stopping her mid-sentence.

"I'm gonna go grab Dale's rifle. Join me up there? I can help you patch up the men folk's clothes." I smiled tight lipped at her and let my hand slip from hers. She looked me straight on and nodded, studying my face.

"I'd love that. I'll be up in a bit."

With that, I grabbed Dale's rifle from its spot by the RV door and clambered up onto the roof. This beach chair felt more like home than anything else at the moment. I settled myself down and looked out over the landscape and wondered if it was actually possible to die of boredom. From the corner of my eye I saw Shane and Rick heading off into the woods, Rick taking up a spot that was noticeably a few feet farther away from his "old friend" than normal, glancing at him almost nervously.

You can't help but see everything while you're on watch.

* * *

 **A/N**

 **Ahhh! I'm alive! Hello all. Apologies for disappearing, but I assure you, I literally thought about this story every day. Big shout out to those of you that kept adding follows, reviews, and favorites despite the hiatus. I'm making no promises on an update schedule, but I'm going to try my best to just keep trucking along. That might be chapters every couple of days….or not. Who knows, life is a mystery.**

 **Not a ton of action in this chapter, mostly character interaction. Action starts next chapter! I've been rewatching season 2 and forgot how many episodes there are of….not a whole lot of anything.**

 **Hope you're all well!**


	9. The Bull

My first day of college, at the parent orientation, Momma had apparently found a friend for me by introducing herself to the people next to her and saying "My Jenny don't suffer no fools, what's your daughter's name?"

I know this because Amy, the daughter of those parents, found me on the first day of classes and told me her parents had responded by asking my name, program, and dorm. To be fair, Amy and I did become friends, but I never admitted to Momma it was because she had set us up.

"You know," Momma started, "you could try just a bit harder to be friendlier with Andrea. I'm sure she's just feeling a bit left out."

It took everything in me not to roll my eyes.

"There's a dozen other people in this group she could be friendly with. It's not that I don't want to be friends with her, it's just after two months I have yet to find something in common." I focused hard on the rip in Daryl's jeans I was fixing. "Plus, she's been all chummy with Shane lately, she doesn't need me." More specifically, Andrea was slowly working her way onto my "fools" list.

"Mmmhmm." Momma said.

"Momma…."

"I'm just saying it wouldn't kill you is all."

"Ok, ok, I'll try a little harder." I said, with zero intention of doing so.

Andrea, T-Dog, Rick, and Shane eventually all returned from their grid search empty handed and disheartened. After handing off watch duty to Andrea (who in all honesty I didn't come anywhere near to trusting to protect us with that rifle), Momma and I settled by the camp fire to finish the mending. The fire was hot in the setting Georgia sun, but we we're going to need it for the light soon enough, so I tolerated the beads of sweat soaking up my shirt.

Daryl hadn't returned yet, which was expected considering the ground he was hoping to cover, but it had reached the point in the day everyone was feeling a little anxious about his return. It wasn't safe in the woods at night alone, even for someone as skilled as Daryl.

I looked over from my rough and ready stitches I was slowly working my way through to the neat and tidy pin straight line Momma had crafted down the side of one of Carl's shirts.

"How do you always get yours so nice like that?" I asked, feeling extremely frustrated with the Frankenstein vibe my repairs were giving off. I knew Daryl wouldn't notice or care, but the others might not be so gracious.

"Just patience, and about forty years more experience."

"Yeah, yeah." I mumbled, barely avoiding maiming my fingers with the dull needle.

The normal hustle and bustle of the camp had settled into a peaceful quiet as everyone wound down for the evening. Dale had settled into some reading in the RV. Rick was in there too, doing lord knows what. T-Dog and Shane were napping in their respective tents.

Carol and Lori had gone up to the farm house to prep dinner for the Greene's, a good will gesture that I think was more to take Carol's mind off the current situation than anything else. Glenn had parked his behind on the porch with Dale's guitar, apparently under the impression that his random string plucking would sway Maggie into doing _it_ with him again.

Dinner at the farm house was an invitation only affair. We wouldn't possibly all fit in their dining room, so the guest list had been limited to Carol, Lori, Rick, Momma (also me, but I had politely declined), and Glenn (color me surprised).

"Walker!" Andrea shouted from the top of the RV. "Walker!" I leapt to my feet and scrambled up the ladder quickly.

"Just the one?" Rick said. He had quickly gathered outside with Dale, Shane, and T-Dog around the vehicle.

"Dale," I leaned down from the roof, "binoculars!" Andrea had her eye glued to the scope of the rifle. The heavy binoculars were pressed into my hand.

"I bet I can nail it from here." Andrea stated.

"No, no, Andrea." Rick sounded nervous. "Hershel wants to deal with walkers."

"You best let us handle this," Shane said. I couldn't see what they were doing, I pressed the binoculars hard to my face, trying to follow Andrea's gaze. There, at the edge of the clearing, something shuffling towards us, dragging….something. It was hard to tell.

"Andrea, don't." Dale said, sounding like he was coming up the ladder himself. Heavy footsteps thudded away from the RV, I looked away from the binoculars quickly to see Shane running dead straight, locked onto the incoming target, with Rick and T hot on his heels. As they got away from the RV I looked back out through the lenses. Something didn't seem right here. This walker wasn't moving, well, much like a walker.

"I'm telling you, I can hit it." Andrea said.

"Don't be stupid, there's a high chance you'll hit Rick or Shane out there." I responded.

"I can do it!" Andrea said forcefully.

Looking through the lenses, the shapeless thing out there started to come into focus. "Andrea, don't, I think it's just –"

 **BANG.** I recoiled sharply, snapping a hand up to the ear that was only recently starting to regain it's full hearing range after Shane snapped the shotgun next to it at the CDC. "Mother fuck—" One hand clasped to my ear, I dropped the binoculars and spun to Andrea.

Screaming, the most horrible sound, Rick screaming from across the field. It cut through the ringing in my ear like a knife.

"No! No!"

"It was Daryl you asshole!" I shouted before somewhat carefully throwing myself down the ladder of the RV and running hell bent out to the others. Pounding footsteps behind me signaled someone was following, but I didn't bother looking back to see who.

Panting with burning lungs I got to the others.

"He's alive," Rick said, heaving the clearly unconscious Daryl up between him and Shane. "We gotta get him back to the house."

"What happened to him? Are those ears?!" Glenn had appeared, clearly noting the mess Daryl looked.

Daryl was covered in blood, tied up in wet field bandages, and yes, wearing a necklace of (hopefully) walker ears. I grabbed his crossbow from where it lay in the grass and looked back from where I came.

"Let's keep that to ourselves," I heard Rick say.

Andrea, Momma, and Dale met us halfway, all clearly distressed for different reasons.

"Oh my God. Oh my God, I killed him!" Andrea wailed as she pressed in front of me.

They started to slowly drag Daryl back towards the house.

"Shut UP," I hollered, pushing past her to follow the group. "It's not about you right now."

Momma was walking with Rick and Shane now, poking at various excessively bloody spots on Daryl, trying to assess the damage.

Dale peeled Andrea off back towards the RV as we rushed past it, clearly sensing Andrea wasn't going to be tolerated at this moment in time.

"Do you think he's bit?" Glenn worried next to me.

"I don't know," I replied. "Shit, this thing is heavy." I readjusted the crossbow over my shoulder. I was panting with the effort of my sprint across the field and subsequent trek back. Track and field was never my strong suit.

We were greeted at the porch by Hershel and his family.

"Get him inside, upstairs, all of you are staying out here." Hershel pointed a finger directly at Glenn and I. "Mrs. Lingle, I'll need your help please. I'll speak to you all about this after." Hershel's stern timber echoed across the porch like the voice of God himself. Silently Momma moved passed me, rubbing my back gently as she went through the door. She caught my eye briefly, I'm not sure what she saw on my face, but it caused her to give my shoulder a little squeeze.

I turned back to Glenn as the others disappeared into the house. Heaving a deep sigh, I sat down heavily in one of the porch chairs, set the crossbow on the rough planks beside me, and buried my face in my hands.

Glenn, smartly for once, remained silent.

"I might actually kill her." I said.

"Jenny…" Glenn looked at me. "She didn't mean it…" he trailed off, barely believing his own words.

"She didn't mean it, but her stupidity might actually get us all killed one day. I mean, if she wasn't so hell bent on impressing everyone and showing off to Shane and Christ her stupid face when I –"

"Jenny." A hand on my back. I shut my mouth and looked up at Glenn now standing in front of me. "He's going to be fine, and Rick won't let this slide." Staring at him I nodded then gazed out across the porch and heaved a sigh. I leaned forward and rested my elbows on my knees.

"It could have been me, or you, or Momma, or literally anyone. She could have actually made the shot, and one of us would be dead."

"Yeah, I know, I get it. Like I said, Rick won't let it slide." Glenn placated. We waited in silence for a bit before eventually Rick and T-Dog joined us. I stood up as Rick met us out on the porch.

"He's alright," Rick said, coming over to our corner. "Your momma and Hershel are patching him up. Looks like he fell on one of his arrows. He found this." Rick held out a tattered doll that had once been Sophia's. "He's awake, said he had found it at the bottom of the creek bed. I'm gonna go bring it to Carol, let her know what's happened. Your momma said she would come get you when he's all set."

"Rick, you can't just let Andre—" I started, trying to catch him before he left the porch.

Rick paused and put a hand on my shoulder. "Your momma has already given me the full run down, all of it." I looked at him wondering what that meant. "I'll talk to Andrea, don't worry." I just nodded, not really knowing what else to say. "Stay for dinner Jenny, you'll be happier here than back at camp right now." He didn't wait for a response before walking off the porch in search of Carol, T-Dog following close behind him.

"Come on Jenny," Glenn tugged at my sleeve. "Sit down. I'll catch you up on operation Greene."

I stared at him questionably.

Glenn looked around, as if to make sure no one was listening. "That's my code name for getting Maggie to date me."

"….code name….date you…." I stared somewhat blankly at him. "You know this is practically the apocalypse right? You don't really have to worry about the dating part of this thing."

"Yeah well, that line has already worked on her once and I don't imagine it working a second time."

I kept staring at him, then burst into laughter. "Please tell me you didn't actually use that line."

Glenn grinned at me, "I mean….I won't not tell you…"

I sat back down waited for him to divulge.

* * *

After an hour on the porch, Glenn and I had been graced by the rotating presence of Maggie, Carol, and Lori. All of whom took turns speculating about what exactly Daryl had found out there.

Shortly before we were all supposed to sit down for dinner, Momma came out to let us know she and Hershel were finished and Daryl would be needing someone to bring him some supper.

"I'm recommending you, baby girl." Momma said. "You're the most neutral party. He's liable to throw the plate at anyone else and I need a minute to sit these old bones down."

"Yeah, sure." I said, taking the offered plate from her and heaving his crossbow back up onto my shoulder.

"Fair warning," Momma continued, she had eased herself into the chair I had just vacated, "he's quite the bear when he's hurting." I nodded, having assumed as much considering he wasn't exactly rainbows and butterflies when he was feeling good either.

At the top of the stairs I paused at the door and took a breath, prepping myself for what I was about to encounter on the other side. A sudden flash of my brother Jack, angry and in a hospital bed swam across my mind. I took a deep breath and slowly opened the door with one hand and balanced the plate of dinner in the other.

My eyes met Daryl's and my brain took a moment to fully take in the scene. He was standing in the en suite bathroom directly across from the door I now stood in, nearly naked, eyes as wide as mine, balancing one hand against the back of the toilet and…peeing, oh shit I walked in on him peeing.

I felt my face burn red hot with embarrassment.

"Shit, fuck, I'm sorry!" I spun around quickly and shut the bedroom door so no one in the hall would see, but stayed standing like an idiot, my back to the bathroom and my nose nearly touching the wood door. The crossbow had dropped to the floor with a solid thud.

"Ever heard of knocking? Fuck's sake." I heard the toilet flush.

"I'm sorry!" I cringed again, not only at the fact that I violated the privacy of possibly the most private person in our camp, but also because I had gotten a clean view of all the "trouble" Momma always said had been put on him.

Scars of all shapes and sizes crossed his sides and back starting at his shoulders and trailing under the bandages around his stomach and the waist of his briefs. The kind of scars you don't ask questions about and don't ever expect to be told about.

"You gonna just stand there or you gonna help me back to the God damned bed." I could hear him panting and I stole a peak over my shoulder to see him leaning with his eyes closed against the bathroom door jam. Quickly, I put the plate down on the side table and rushed to grab his elbow. He swung his arm over my shoulders and leaned heavily on me. His skin was hot against mine and I wasn't going to stand there and pretend he smelled like magnolias.

"You reek Dixon." I said, moving slowly with him across the room.

"Yeah, well, your momma ain't the sponge bath kind of nurse." I dropped him unceremoniously onto the bed and earned a satisfying grunt. "Bitch." He grumbled breathlessly.

"Could have asked Hershel." I said, pulling the blankets up around him as he got settled.

"Nah, he was enjoying stabbing me with the sewing needle a bit too much." He groaned in pain as he fished around in the blankets getting comfortable.

"Here, eat, Momma said it'll do you good." I shoved the plate in his hands. He started to shovel food in his mouth with all the grace of a rabid dog. "You want me to stay…or…."

Daryl paused to swallow and shrugged a little. I eased myself into the chair that had been left next to the bed.

"How long did Hershel and Momma say you should stay up here?"

"Don't matter, I'll be fine to go back out tomorrow."

"Don't be ridiculous, you just needed me to walk you back from the toilet."

"If you're gonna sit there and tell me what to do you can fuckin' leave."

Bear indeed. I leveled him a stare that would make Momma proud.

"Carol is waiting for the second I leave this room to come up and pounce on you with her motherly love and feelings and gratuity. If you reaaaallllly want me to leave, I'm happy to go find her downstairs and tell her you're alone and need help." No answer. I moved to stand up.

"Wait, no, shit." He half heartedly lifted his hand and gestured for me to stay.

"Thank God, I really don't want to have to sit through dinner downstairs with everyone." Daryl gave a low chuckle then grabbed his side.

"Shit." He wheezed. I sat there keeping my hands to myself, he wasn't the kind to let you fuss.

"How close did you come?" I asked quietly, watching him close his eyes and breath through the pain.

"To finding Sophia?" He said.

"To dyin'." I said a little more sharply than I meant to. He opened his eyes and watched me for a beat, then shrugged.

"Too pissed at myself to die. Plus it didn't help I had Merle in my head calling me a pussy every step, would have lived if only to shut that bastard up."

"So…real close." I said decidedly. He shrugged again, not meeting my eye. I was about ready to slap that shrug right outta him.

"Weren't the first time, won't be the last. It's just the way things are now."

"Well, you're going to pretend I didn't say it but…I'm glad you're ok. I've missed hanging out with you. Haven't had a lot of time to do nothing on watch together since we got here."

"You mean, you miss stealing my cigarettes." He stated boldly.

"Well, since I'm bettin' Momma's gonna hold you hostage up here for at least the next 48 hours, you better be nice to me if you want someone to be sneaking you smokes."

"…You packin' right now?"

"Oh, so now we're friends again?"

He sat up straighter. "Give it up, girl! Don't hold out!"

I pulled the lighter and pack of cigarettes out of my pocket. Glen had run and grabbed them out of Daryl's tent, along with some clean clothes at the request of Momma, while we were waiting.

"Your momma keeps telling me Lingle girls are angels, I'm starting to agree."

"I figure you got an hour before they finish dinner and kick me out." I stood up and leaned across him to open the window next to the bed. For a second I was acutely aware again of his state of undress. Ten years ago Momma would have skinned me alive for being in a room with a boy with a closed door, regardless that I was in college. And a shirtless boy at that? Well I might as well have my obituary ready to print.

"Want one?" He offered me the pack as I sat back down. Gingerly he reached over and hung the cigarette out the window.

"I'm good thanks. If I go downstairs smelling like a backwater bar they won't let me back up tomorrow."

We just sat there for a moment, enjoying each other's company.

"Thanks." He said quietly, avoiding looking at me.

"For what?" I said.

He just shrugged.

I kept staring at him. He began to pick at the blanket.

"For puttin' up with me." He was looking at the cigarette in his hand, doing his best to avoid all eye contact. "Not many folk do."

"You're my friend Daryl, it's what friends do." I said.

* * *

 **A/N We're on a rolllllllll. Can't stop. Won't stop. Thank you all for the reviews, favorites, and friendly PMs : ) It feels so good to be writing creatively again! Next couple chapters are already written. Also I'm going to be going back through the previous chapters to repair some of the grievous grammar and tense mistakes. Reviews feed the soul! Leave me a note!**


	10. I've Been Around

**Chapter 10**

True to his word, Rick had given me the day off of watch duty. As the morning sun pressed into my tent, I lay on my back in the still soft heat. Momma had stayed in the RV. Again. But for some reason I wasn't as tore up about it this time. It made her happy, and she deserved that. I could see that, and as entitled as I felt to her presence, she also had her own life to live. Her time was limited, all of our time was limited (Daryl did his best to drive that point home yesterday), but hers was the most immediate.

I lay there, warm and safe. Willing myself to go back to sleep as the exhaustion I'd been feeling the past few days settled over me. Behind my closed eyes I could see my farm. I was standing on my own little porch. Mickey, my cattle dog, was chasing Louise, the new heifer, out to the pasture to join Melba, the old and now retired cow.

Peter, my part time hired hand, was using Baloo (the plow horse) to plow the fields after Oink and Toot (this season's pigs) had tilled up the soil for us.

It was my oasis. I could stand here forever, and nothing would ever go wrong. Sometimes Momma would be on the porch with me, or Jack, or Josie, or even Daddy.

Somedays it's Thanksgiving or Christmas at Momma and Daddy's farm. But today, today it's just me and Mickey and Peter (and Baloo, and Melba, and…)

I can feel my eyes starting to water. I open them and stare at the roof of the tent. Still here. Still in this world.

I go through what I have, what I have right now to be grateful for. An exercise a therapist taught me during something that was happening that clearly was no longer important.

I am alive.

I have Momma. ( _For now_ a voice somewhere in the back whispered)

Okay bad start.

I have Momma.

And a (relatively) safe place to sleep.

And Glenn.

And Daryl.

And Dale.

And Rick.

And Carol.

And maybe Maggie.

I breathed in deeply through my nose and sat up. I scrubbed my hands against my face and forced myself to crawl outside.

I was the only one awake except for Glenn on watch. Momma had been sleeping in later and later, I would be worried, but she told me not to (so of course I do). ("It's just the natural progression of things, baby girl")

Needing the company of someone other than myself, I climbed lazily up the ladder.

"Hey." I said sans any enthusiasm.

"Oh." Glenn said softly, not even turning his head to acknowledge me. "Hey."

It was early, and I wasn't sure what time Glenn had begun watch, but something was very wrong. He was the camp golden retriever, and he had spent the evening with Maggie after dinner as far as I was aware.

"You wanna talk about it?" I said, sitting down in the beach chair.

Glenn looked around the camp nervously, as if expecting us to be thrown under attack at any moment.

"I can't tell you."

"That…sounds pretty serious Glenn."

"I know, it's just," He looked around again before sitting softly on the RV next to me. "She told me not to tell." He was shaking his head gently now, rubbing his forehead with one hand.

"She…what now?"

"Maggie…It's all from Maggie and I passed her a note and she said yes and then we were gonna in the barn and I saw everything and she told me not to tell but I'm freaking out! And I don't know how I'm supposed –"

"Glenn," I grabbed his arm in an attempt to stop his rambling. "What in God's name are you talking about?"

Glenn stopped moving for a minute and stared at me dead on.

"The barn, Jenny." He looked around and dropped his voice even quieter. "The barn is fucking stuffed full of walkers."

"The fuck are you talking about Glenn?" I asked, deadly serious.

"I'm serious Jenny. I saw it last night. That's what I'm telling you. The barn with the padlock on it, go take a walk by it, it's stuffed with walkers and I'm pretty sure they've been feeding them live chickens."

"What…." My brain had stopped functioning. "Why….did Maggie say why?"

"No, she just said not to tell anyone and that I 'would understand'. But I don't fucking understand because this is insane right? Like absolutely insane?"

"We have to tell someone."

"Why do you think I feel so bad? Who do we even tell? If Shane finds out he'll go ballistic. Rick might have some sort of reasonable response, but Lori is all messed up to – "

"Lori? What's wrong with Lori?"

"She's – nothing, shit, I'm not supposed to say anything."

"Glenn, you can trust me, what is going on with Lori?" My voice was going hoarse from whispering for so long. He took a long breath and stared at me.

"Lori's pregnant."

I let several seconds pass.

"But Rick's only been back a week." I said dumbly.

"I'm aware Jenny."

"Well shit."

"What do we do Jenny?" Glenn ask desperately. "We have to tell someone about the walkers. It's literally a life or death thing."

"Dale. Tell Dale. He'll know what to do."

"And Lori?"

"Nothing. It's….messy but it's not our problem, at least not yet. It's up to her if she wants to tell Rick, or I guess Shane for that matter."

"Right."

"Right."

We sat together in silence for a long while.

"How long were you going to keep the whole' barn full of walkers' thing to yourself exactly?" I asked him skeptically.

"Oh maybe for like one second. Minute I heard you come out of the tent I was bursting to tell you. Only reason I didn't tell you last night was that you were in your tent already when I got back from the house."

"Right, remind me never to tell you any secrets." I subtly accused.

"Hey to be fair, I'll keep any secret you tell me that doesn't run the risk of eating me alive." Glenn retaliated.

I smiled and got up.

"Where are you heading now?" Glenn asked worriedly, looking up at me.

"I'm gonna go for a walk like you suggested, go check on Daryl. Greene's should be up soon to start farm chores. I'm gonna see where I end up before they get too busy."

"Right." Glenn said. "What should I do?"

"Talk to Dale when he and Momma get up. We can't let this sit."

Glenn nodded. "Ok, can we reconvene about all of this later? Like at lunch or something?"

"Sounds good."

With that I crept down the RV ladder, grabbed a granola bar, and made my way to the barn to see with my own eyes what Glenn was talking about. By my estimate I had about 30 minutes before not only the Greene's, but the rest of the camp began to come to life.

It took ten minutes of steady marching to make my way to the barn. Standing close to the locked door, it wasn't obvious from the outside that anything was inside. Slowly I edged closer and pressed my eye to a hollow knot in the old barn wood.

Bodies. Dozens of slowly shifting bodies milled about the dark shadows. With a start I back peddled away from the door and stood there panting. There weren't just walkers in the barn, there was a _shit ton_ of walkers in the barn.

Dale would know what to do. Dale had to know what to do because I sure as hell didn't. Telling Shane would most definitely set off a nightmarish style shit storm that would get us kicked off the farm and sent back out to barely surviving. Telling Rick had possibilities, but if Lori really was pregnant he was about to have a whole different set of things to worry about. How much could one man handle?

Maggie. Maybe I should try talking to Maggie. It seemed worth it, she was one of the more reasonable people here (except having a barn full of walkers!), maybe there was a plan we didn't know about.

I took a breath and took another step back. Turning on my heel I made my way back to the farm house. Noticing movement through the kitchen windows I made my way up the steps and knocked softly on the door.

Maggie, speak of the devil, answered the door.

"Good morning, Jenny!" Maggie said brightly. "Can I help you with something?"

"Hey, sorry, I was up and figured maybe I could come hang out and check on Daryl when he wakes up? Momma told me to if I woke up before her."

"Oh, yeah sure that's no problem!" Maggie replied. She ushered me towards the kitchen. "I haven't heard Daryl moving around up there yet, want some coffee while you wait?"

"…hot coffee?" I said eagerly, peering around the kitchen.

"Yeah, fresh, hot coffee! Just put the pot on."

"That would be delightful." She poured me a mug full and I spent a solid two minutes simply inhaling the scent. "Is that milk?" I asked.

Maggie simply responded by pouring a dollop into my mug.

"It's the simple pleasures!" She said happily. I took a big sip and watched her putter around the kitchen.

"You always the first one up?" I asked, trying to make conversation.

"For the most part, yeah. Beth usually drags herself out of bed around 9 am. Patricia will be up shortly I expect. Jimmy may be as well. Daddy on the other hand usually goes out for a walkabout just before sunrise. Spends a good hour or two each morning."

"Oh," I said surprised. "He feels safe out there alone?"

"Yes," Maggie replied. "He sometimes carries a rifle, but mostly just his bible."

"Oh, wow, that's…." I didn't really have a reponse. "Nice." So we were alone. At least for a short while. Now. I should ask her now. But was there a way to do it without totally and completely alienating her and/or ruining whatever relationship she might potentially have with Glenn? I could make it seem accidental, make it seem like I was….an idea suddenly crossed my mind.

I studied her cautiously.

"Listen, Maggie. You know how you wanted me to help make the farm more sustainable?"

"Yeah! Are you ready to start thinking about it?" She started fussing with dishes in the sink.

"Yeah, definitely!" A small sip of coffee, then I plunged ahead. "Actually, I had been out checking the horse barns to see what other animals you could hold in there. Normally your first step to getting away from gas powered things would be to look into what animals you can replace the machinery with." Maggie nodded, seeming to follow where this was going.

"So anyway, your next step, particularly for good crop rotation, would be to get some pigs, they're good at doing the tilling."

"Oh I love pigs! We used to have a couple each season."

"That's great! So, you know that they need a sturdy place." I kept going. "So, I was checking out how the horse barn might be suited for pigs, and since it's a split rail type post and beam build, the pigs would probably be able to root under it pretty quick, you see?"

"Yeah, now that you mention it, we had that problem several times before, it's why we gave up on pigs!" She laughed to herself and topped off my coffee mug.

"Exactly." I grinned at her. "So I was looking into the other out buildings. Now the generator shed is good, the concrete floor would be really convenient to clean when the pigs aren't out to pasture, but moving that generator would be a real bitch."

"You're right, I'm pretty sure it's been in the same place since 1925 when it was put there."

"Right." I kept smiling at her, hoping it wasn't beginning to look too suspect, or downright insane. "So, I took a look at the other buildings and noticed when I walked around the big barn, it also had a couple concrete pads. I couldn't get inside because the door was locked, so I took a peak in through the door, and you know what, it was the darndest thing. I think a couple walkers might have gotten in there somehow and gotten stuck. I'd be happy to help clean the barn out so we could assess it better for the pigs." I tried to keep a hyper innocent look on my face as I took a big gulp of coffee.

Maggie's face had gone from endearing to stone cold serious.

"I ain't a fool Jenny, and neither are you. So I'd appreciate you not treating me like one. I told Glenn not to tell!" She whispered desperately, resting her elbows on the counter and leaning her face into her hands.

"I mean, I like you too Maggie, but you can't be that smart if you trusted Glenn not to say anything. I mean you've slept –" I shut my big fat mouth, suddenly realizing I had said too much.

"Sorry, I'm sorry. Momma always tells me I got a fat mouth. I should have just told you straight up that he told me."

Maggie looked like she was split somewhere between throwing up, breaking down into tears, and punching me in the face.

"Listen," I approached her cautiously, gently resting a hand on her shoulder. She very quickly brushed it off and stood up straight. "I won't say a thing, you can trust me on that a hundred percent more so than Glenn. But you gotta understand how dangerous this is. Not just for our group, but your family as well."

"I," She started. "I'm beginning to, since y'all showed up." She leaned on the counter and stared out the window. "We've been so sheltered here and Daddy's got this notion…" she sighed and hung her head.

"I just need some time to talk to him." Maggie finished. "That's all I ask. I know they can't stay in there. I just need a chance to talk to him before any of your people do."

I nodded. A rumble in the ceiling above us took our attention.

"That'll be Daryl's room." Maggie said. "You should go up, he may need help."

I slowly took a step back from her. "We can help you Maggie. Glenn is a good guy, I've known him pretty much since the beginning of this whole nightmare. Trust that whatever he does is well intentioned."

"Like opening his big fat mouth?" She smiled wryly.

"Exactly."

I walked towards the stairs, carrying my mug of coffee with me and an apple Maggie had handed me as well.

"I just need 36 hours Jenny. I just need some time to talk to my Daddy." She was almost begging.

I nodded.

"I was being honest about those pigs." I added. "And the spot by well number two would be great for some solar panels." I smiled and raised my mug in a salute, turned carefully, and did my best to quietly trudge up the stairs.

Standing in front of Daryl's door, I took a deep breath and knocked softly with the hand holding the apple.

"It's me," I said quietly.

"Come in." He replied.

I slowly swung the door open, giving us both an ample shot at avoiding the same embarrassment as yesterday.

He was lounging on the bed, knees up, blankets to his waist, next to the open window, smoking. In another life it would have been the cover to a redneck romance novel.

"If you're not careful you're gonna stink the place up and they'll kick you out." I said.

"Mornin' to you too, Sunshine. Your momma send you all the way out here just to bitch at me?" He said with a raised eyebrow. I stood there dumbly for a second and shook my head.

"No, sorry. I brought you breakfast, and was told to check your stitches if I got here before Momma." I set the apple and the coffee on the bedside table.

"And since Momma is still in bed with Dale…" He goaded, maneuvering so I could check his damages.

"Shut up." I said, 'accidentally' poking him while I peeked under his bandages. He gave a low hiss.

"Anyone ever tell you you're mean?" He said.

"Only my sister, and only usually when I was telling her to behave." I said, pulling the bandages back in to place. "Your stitches still look good, and it ain't bleeding, so that's good too. How do you feel?" I poked at his head wound but stopped when he pulled back.

"I'm fine. Like I said yesterday." He eyed me critically. "What's wrong with you?" He put the cigarette out in a leftover cup from the day before and reached for the food on the nightstand.

"Me?"

"No one else in here."

"What makes you think there's something wrong with me?"

"Yer sittin' on my bed at," he paused to glance at the clock, "6:30 in the morning. This coffee was clearly yours first." He held up the mug he was now drinking from. "And you look like shit." I continued to stare somewhat blankly at him.

"You gonna tell me or what?" He said, taking a large bite of the apple. I just shook my head incredulously, wondering when I became so transparent.

"If I say PMS will you leave it alone?" I couldn't tell him any of this, at least not until Glenn and I knew more about the situation.

"Yup." He said, handing me a cigarette. I grabbed it from his as he moved his legs for me to sit on the bed and hang my hand out the window.

I leaned my head against the wall and let my eyes drift close, occasionally taking a puff.

"Did you even sleep last night?" He asked me.

"Did you?" I countered.

"Fair enough." He started to heave himself up out of the bed.

"Need a hand?" I offered, putting the cigarette out and moving to help him.

"Nah, I'm good," he said gruffly. "Hand me the ash cup, I've just been flushing 'em." I passed him the cup. "I'm gonna take a shower, only tellin' you so you don't worry I've fainted when I don't come out."

"Momma will kill you if you get your stitches wet, it's not even been 24 hours." I scolded him.

"Yeah well if I don't, I'll die anyway from stinking so bad. Just stay here in case I do pass out. I don't wanna wake up naked with old man Hershel standin' over me – again."

I gave a weak chuckle as the bathroom door clicked shut. Left alone again, my thoughts started to drift. How long would the walkers keep contained? What in the hell was Hershel thinking? If we caused a commotions about this we would surely be kicked off the farm. And then what? Where do we go? How long do we last out there again?

In an effort to calm my racing thoughts I grabbed a book off the side table. The words refused to stick in my mind so I gave up, closed my eyes, leaned back against the headboard, and promptly fell into a rough sleep.

* * *

 **A/N Let's keep this train rolling! Thank you for the follows and favorites! We're starting to move things along now! I always love hearing your thoughts in the reviews, I'm always open to suggestions too!**

 **For my American readers – Go Pats!**


	11. Backseat

**Chapter 11**

Going on runs wasn't really my thing. Glenn knew that, Momma knew that, I'm pretty sure Rick and Daryl knew it too. I didn't have anything against it, I just preferred staying at camp and helping out, being with Momma most notably. I thought back to this morning, trying to figure out how I had let myself end up on this rank horse that was doing its best to drag me back to the farm.

Glenn had sent Momma (he knew what he was doing I'll give him that) to Daryl's room to convince me to go out with him and Maggie to the pharmacy.

"Oh, it'll be fine baby girl, we just need some more medical supplies." Momma said nonchalantly, waving her hand while she tidied up Daryl's room.

"They went by themselves before, I don't really understand why they need me."

"Old man Hershel probably won't let Glenn go alone with Maggie." Daryl piped in.

I looked between him and Momma trying to figure out how much they each knew about Glenn and Maggie. Probably everything if we're being honest here. I swear they're both psychic.

"I don't even have a gun, I lost pretty much everything back at the CDC". Even my Braves cap, I reminisced forlornly.

"There's a knife in my bag," Daryl motioned to the pack lying next to the bed. "Dammit woman, you gotta poke at that?" He turned sharply on Momma who had moved on to checking his stitches.

Momma just hummed, ignoring the outburst completely. I sighed resolutely and dug into Daryl's bag. I pulled out wax, oil, and extra cabling, all things for his crossbow. My hand finally found purchase on a large well worn Bowie knife in a leather sheath. It was…mostly clean. Taking care not to worry about what the brown spots on the handle were, I held it up to show them.

"Say 'Thank You' to Daryl, baby girl." Momma said condescendingly. I gave him my most stone-faced look.

"Thank you Daryl." I say monotonal.

"Goes on your belt." He said pointing at my waist without even bothering to look at me. Momma was unwrapping the bandage on his head now. I restrained myself from stomping my foot like a child and fumbled to get the sheath on my belt. Once it was situated, I presented to them for approval.

"Ta-da." I said holding one hand out and resting the other on the knife handle.

"Yeah, I'm into it." Daryl said with a bit of a wicked gleam in his eye. "Ow, Christ woman, I was kidding!" Momma had given him a particularly solid jab to his head wound.

And so I found myself here - on "Peaches" the horse, who was no peach I quickly realized, with Daryl's knife at my hip and Maggie and Glenn riding in front of me. It was a struggle to ignore the gaga eyes Glenn kept making at Maggie.

"So…." I called, forcing Peaches up next to Glenn's (very well behaved) mount. "How much farther?"

They both remained silent. Glenn looked a bit like a kicked puppy.

"Alright, anybody want to talk…about anything?" Still silence. "Ok, that's cool." I might as well be talking to a wall.

"Maggie, I –" Glenn started. That seemed to light the fire.

"I asked for your trust and you betrayed it!" She erupted. "Now my daddy's pissed at me!"

"Maggie he –" I started.

"Don't you even!" She whipped at me. "He's a big boy, he can speak for himself." I shut my mouth quickly and dropped back a stride.

"Your turn." She said to Glenn acidly. Glenn took a deep breath and turned to me first.

"Hershel thinks they're sick and can get better." I didn't have a response to that. He turned back to Maggie. "You agree with that? Even after what you saw at the well?"

"I'm not sure what I saw at the well." She said.

"Wait, the cow well you closed?" I questioned, thinking of the bloated walker Glenn told me they tried to pull out. I gave a little tug on my reins and a soft kick to Peaches when she made to turn back (again).

"Look, if you'd seen Atlanta, you would not have a barn full of walkers." Glenn finished.

"Maggie," I said, "regardless of their health that barn won't keep them locked up. They'll get out and hurt someone, what if it's your dad, or Beth?"

Maggie turned sideways in the saddle and spoke to us both. "Stop calling them walkers. They're people. They're Mom, and Shawn, and Mr. and Mrs. Fischer, and Lacey, and –"

"—and they're dead Maggie." I said forcefully. "They're dead and they're not going to get better."

"Enough, Jenny." Glenn said quickly. "We're here, let's just forget it for now and we can talk about what we're gonna do on the way back." Maggie and I stared at each other across Glenn.

"Fine." Maggie said, swiftly dismounting her horse. Glenn and I followed suit. We tied the horses up and convened outside the pharmacy door. Maggie was all business as she said, "Jenny, you go grab whatever bandaging and wound material you can find, last aisle on the left. Glenn, you and I will head to the pharmacy. I'll grab the antibiotics, you head to the right and grab the pain killers. Everybody got it?"

"Yeah." Glenn and I responded in unison. Maggie nodded. I reached to my belt and pulled the knife. As we slowly moved through the shattered front door, Maggie turned back to Glenn.

"What did Lori need?" She asked him. Glenn shifted nervously.

"I can't say." He mumbled, looking back at me. It was clearly something baby related.

"So when one of them asks you to keep your mouth shut…" Maggie sniped, trailing off as she headed back to the pharmacy counter.

"Real smooth, Glenn." I said.

"Shut up," he hissed back at me, before marching after Maggie into the back.

I took a cautious look around, didn't note any corpses about to lunge for me, tucked the knife back in to my belt, and bent down to grab a forgotten shopping basket. It was slim pickings in the first aid aisle. I tossed a tube of antibiotic cream, some medical tape, and some steristrips in the basket, but passed over the torn open boxes of gauze (that may or may not be bloody) and microwaveable hot pack.

I wandered in to the next aisle and grabbed a couple ace bandages.

"No!"

"No! No!" Maggie and Glenn hollered. I threw the basket to the ground, whipped the knife out, and practically threw myself across the pharmacy counter.

"Guys! Where are you?" I called, frantically scanning each aisle of pills one at a time.

"Here!" Glenn called.

"Glenn! Help me!" Maggie called again. I followed the sound of scuffling past jugs of mineral oil to see Glenn working to pull a particularly ambitious walker off Maggie.

"Get it off!" Maggie half yelled, half sobbed.

"Glenn!" I shouted. He looked back just as I lurched towards him with the handle of the knife held out.

He grabbed it and in one quick motion shoved the blade into the back of the thing's skull. Breathing heavily, I helped him haul the body off Maggie. I dragged it the side, pulling the blade from it's skull and wiping it clean on the things clothes. I heard Glenn behind me frantically checking over Maggie.

"Did it get you? Did it bite you?" No response. I turned back to them to see him hugging her tightly.

"I think we should get out of here." I said quietly. "The noise will draw more out." Glenn nodded.

"I'll get her out," he said. "Can you grab the bags?"

"Yeah." I replied, already moving to load my arms with everything Glenn had dropped. A box mixed in with everything caught my eye. It caught Maggie's too.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Maggie said, plucking the box of abortion pills out of the pile. "This is what she needed?" She snatched a bag out of my hands and shoved the box in with the other things. "Let's get out of here."

I looked at Glenn who had the sense to look embarrassed. I gave him a pat on the shoulder as I walked out of the pharmacy, grabbing the basket of first aid supplies on the way. It was going to be a long ride back to the farm.

* * *

I don't want to say I ran away from Glenn and Maggie when we got back, but I will admit to offering to untack all three horses. Maggie stormed off after handing me her reins and Glenn sheepishly moved to go after her carrying the supplies we had picked. If there was going to be a domestic, I wanted nothing to do with it.

I took my time putting away the horses. It felt so normal, so familiar to be taking care of them. I lost myself to the rhythm of brushing each one down, checking their feet, and turning them back out to the pasture. A feeling of needing to do more came over me, being hands on with the animals was putting some life back in me. I'd been stagnant in our little community, using Momma as a bit of an excuse if I was being honest. It was time for me to support the group with more than just watch duty. I would commit to helping Maggie get the farm up and running again, and maybe, that would help out the group somehow, help me out somehow. I shut the gate and headed back to camp, hoping that Glenn and Maggie would be hashing it out far from my tent.

I settled down in my tent to freshen up and put some clean clothes on. Momma, Dale, and Carol were milling around the RV waiting for Shane and Andrea to get back. Momma knew I was back, but I hadn't given her the full run down yet. As I was pulling on some clean pants I heard the rumble of their car tires on the gravel drive.

They were just out of earshot for me to hear their search report. That was fine, Momma would catch me up when we sat down for supper. I let my eyes drift closed and I tried to sort through and compartmentalize what happened on our run.

Hershel thought walkers were just sick people, _that could be cured_. He was keeping them in hopes that they could be fixed. He was keeping them, like livestock, thinking they would get better and be able to go about their lives. And Maggie clearly either shared that opinion or didn't think the danger was high enough to fight it.

Boots crunched on the ground outside my tent.

"Shane, Shane, I've been thinking, you've got that nice new ride of yours." It was Dale. "Plenty of fuel, more than enough for you to get far from here."

"What, you telling me to leave?" Shane scoffed. I stayed deathly still, not wanting them to know I was laying just a few feet from them.

"I know you've been planning to." Dale accused. "Maybe now is a goodtime."

"Is this about Andrea?" Shane questioned precipitously.

"I'm just looking out for the group." Dale said. I wish I could see them, wish I could know what Dale was thinking.

"You think the group would be better off without me, Dale?" Shane argued. "Why don't you tell that to Rick, or Lori? Their boy would be dead if I hadn't put my ass on the line." I could imagine Shane the bully getting right up in Dale's face.

"And Otis's." Dale retorted. Clearly Dale shared Glenn and mine's feelings about that night too. "You've been vague about that night, about what happened." He continued.

"Otis died a hero." Shane said resolutely.

"So you've said."

"A little boy lived because of what went down that night. I think you ought to show some gratitude." Shane's voice was becoming steadily more aggressive.

"I wasn't there." Dale put simply.

"No man, you weren't."

"But I was," Dale said smoothly, "that time you raised your gun on Rick."

Well then. So something was going on with Shane after all.

"I know what kind of man you are." Dale stated boldly.

"You think I'd shoot Rick?" Shane questioned. "That is by best friend. That's a man I love. I love him like he's my brother. You think that's the kind of man I am?"

"That's right." Dale said. He was playing with fire.

"Well, maybe we ought to just think that through. Say I'm the kind of man who'd gun down his own best friend. What do you think I'd do to some guy that I don't even like when he starts throwing accusations my way. Hmm? What do you think, Dale?"

I could see it now in my mind. I could see Shane leaning over Dale like the bully he is, the brim of his police cap nearly brushing Dale's forehead. Silence. Heavy boot steps thudded away.

"You can come out now."

Busted. Slowly I unzipped the front of my tent and came out.

"It's fine, I knew you were in there."

I stood there awkwardly in response.

"I figured it was good to have a witness in case he strangled me."

"I've felt the same way Dale. Glenn too. And probably Momma but she hasn't said anything to me." I gave him a pointed look.

"She may have mentioned a couple things to me."

"Now what?" I asked him. "We just wait for Shane to go on a murder spree?"

"Wish I knew." Dale said sadly. "Just watch yourself around him. That's all I can say for now."

I hesitated before asking my next question.

"Do you think Andrea is okay around him? She's been spending a lot of … time with him."

Dale looked unsure of how to answer.

"Let's just take it one step at a time." He said. "I'll check in with Andrea. Just keep doing what you're doing."

"And that would be?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Watch him, keep an eye out. And for God's sake don't start anything with him, I honestly don't trust him to restrain himself." He looked out past our camp.

"I trust you to figure it out Dale." I said simply, leaving it at that.

* * *

A/N Woo! Chapter 11! Barely proofed this, so apologies. Another batch of chapters coming in. I seem to have committed to the fact that my writing schedule centers around school vacations where I teach. That'll just have to do! Your reviews and adds keep me going :) This ones short and sweet but the next few will be longer.


End file.
